Measuring teacher effectiveness for equity: value-added model of teachers’ distributive effects on classroom achievement gaps

Extending conventional value-added models (VAM) of teacher effects that focus on the estimation of average effects for excellence, this study examines “distributive” effects for equity. Using multilevel regression models, the study addresses two research questions to inform educational policy for teacher improvement and accountability. First, do more effective teachers contribute not only to improving student achievement overall (excellence) but also narrowing achievement gaps among student groups (equity)? The results show highly mixed relationships between average effect and distributive effects; effective teachers on average narrowed the achievement gaps among academic groups but not the gaps among racial and socioeconomic groups in their classrooms. Second, what attributes and practices of teachers are associated with desirable teacher effects for both excellence and equity? The conventional measures of teacher characteristics and practices help account for the average teacher effects but not the distributive effects. Implications are discussed for improving the measures of teacher effectiveness.