A Brief History of Educational 'Value Added': How Did We Get To Where We Are?

This article gives an account of how and why the term 'value added' has come to be used in an educational context, focusing on the early years of that usage in the UK. It discusses the fact that the term value added has developed, has been understood and defined in diverse and sometimes co...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:School effectiveness and school improvement 1999-06, Vol.10 (2), p.233-256
Main Author: Saunders, Lesley
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Academic Standards
Context Effect
Definitions
Economics
Educational History
Elementary Secondary Education
Foreign Countries
United Kingdom
Value Added
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:This article gives an account of how and why the term 'value added' has come to be used in an educational context, focusing on the early years of that usage in the UK. It discusses the fact that the term value added has developed, has been understood and defined in diverse and sometimes conflicting ways; and identifies what are called 'functional ambiguities' in the term; that is to say, ambiguities which cannot be altogether eliminated because they are necessary to how the term is made to function. Nonetheless, some criteria emerge in the course of the article for making evaluative judgements of what should and should not count as meaningful definitions of value added.
ISSN:0924-3453
1744-5124
DOI:10.1076/sesi.10.2.233.3507