• Measures a student's performance at one single point in time
• Is typically correlated with a student's demographics
• Compares student performance to PA Core Standards
• Is critical to a student's post-secondary opportunities

• Measures a student's growth across time; i.e., across years
• Typically has little to no relationship with a student's demographics
• Compares performance of a student group to their own prior performance
• Is critical to ensuring students' future academic success

Value-added is a statistical analysis used to measure the academic growth for an LEA/district's or school's groups of students from year to year. Conceptually and as a simple explanation, a value-added "score" is calculated in the following manner:

• Growth = Current Achievement (or current results) compared to all prior achievement (all prior results); with achievement being measured by an appropriate test such as PA's state assessments.
• The methodology used in PA for value-added assessment is based on the EVAAS methodology. More simple models for value-added assessment (unlike SAS EVAAS) might yield results that might be confounded by measurement error and exclude students who have missing data in their assessment history.
• The methodology used by PVAAS is called Education Value-Added Assessment System (EVAAS). PA's implementation of EVAAS is called the Pennsylvania Value-Added Assessment System (PVAAS). The EVAAS methodology has been published since 1998 and has been nationally peer reviewed. Following a pilot from 2002-05, PVAAS has been implemented statewide in PA since 2006.

PVAAS is a statistical analysis of student assessment data and provides LEAs/districts and their schools with growth and student projection data to add to achievement data. This lens of measuring student learning provides educators with valuable information to ensure they are meeting the academic needs of all students.

To help you understand PVAAS analysis, think of academic growth in terms of a child's physical growth and the growth charts used by a child's physician. Growth charts are an important tool for monitoring a child's development, but they are just one of the indicators used by the physician to ensure a child is growing at the minimum expected level and on the trajectory to grow as expected. A physician would not use a growth chart in isolation to diagnose a child; however, the growth chart would provide valuable information that might warrant further exploration.

For more information, visit the Pennsylvania Department of Education PVAAS resource page.

PVAAS offers an objective, more accurate way to measure student growth among groups of students. With this information, educators are better able to:

• Monitor the growth of all groups of students with a history of lower achievement to higher achievement, ensuring growth opportunities for all students
• Measure the impact of educational practices, classroom curricula, instructional methods, and professional learning on student achievement
• Make informed, data-driven decisions about where to focus resources to help students make greater growth and perform at higher levels
• Modify and differentiate instruction to address the needs of all students
• Align professional learning efforts in the areas of greatest need
• Network with other LEAs/districts and schools that might yield different and higher growth results
• Identify best practices and implement academic programs that best meet students' needs

PVAAS provides two types of information, value-added (or growth) data on groups of students and student-level projection data.

The value-added, or growth, information analyzes available data from previous years (looking back) to help LEAs/districts and schools assess how much groups of students have gained academically in a school year by answering questions such as: Is our academic program working for all students? At all grades? In all subjects?

The student projection information uses the data already analyzed to help schools project (looking forward) to the future by answering questions such as: What is the likelihood of a student reaching proficiency or higher on a future assessment? Projection data can be used for intervention planning, enrichment planning, and resource allocation.

PVAAS value-added/growth reporting is available in the grades and subjects assessed in Pennsylvania's statewide assessment system. This includes reporting for math and ELA (grades 4-8), science (grades 4 and 8), and Keystone content areas (Algebra I, Literature, and Biology).

PVAAS student projection reporting is available for PSSA Math, PSSA ELA, PSSA Science, Keystone Algebra I, Keystone Literature, Keystone Biology, Advanced Placement (for AP subject areas with the largest statewide AP exam participation), PSAT, ACT, SAT, and ACCESS for ELLs.

PVAAS is one of the many tools provided to LEAs/districts and schools by the Pennsylvania Department of Education. LEAs/districts and schools are using PVAAS, in conjunction with achievement data, to make sure all students are on an academic path to proficiency and beyond. Using all the data available (growth and achievement), educators are able to make data-informed instructional decisions to ensure the academic growth and achievement of all students.

Scatterplots provide evidence for this question: What is the visual profile of LEAs/districts, schools, charter schools and/or CTCs when plotting achievement versus growth, or other student group characteristics?

LEA/District Search allows users to find and view the achievement and the growth of LEAs/public districts across PA and search for similar LEAs/districts based on grade levels tested and various demographics or other student group characteristics.

School Search allows users to find and view the achievement and the growth of LEAs/public schools across PA and search for similar schools based on grade levels tested and various demographics or other student group characteristics.

School Value-Added reports provide measures of the average academic growth a school's students made in each tested grade and subject or Keystone content area. These reports, along with other data, can help educators identify relative strengths and areas for further exploration across grades and subjects.

LEA/District Value-Added reports provide measures of the average academic growth an LEA/district's students made in each tested grade and subject or Keystone content area. These reports, along with other data, can help educators identify relative strengths and areas for further exploration across grades and subjects.

The Growth of Student Groups report provides school and LEA/district value-added measures for specific student groups, including but not limited to, students who are designated as economically disadvantaged and students who have IEPs or GIEPs.

Note: Achievement results and growth results must be used together to get a complete picture of student learning.