It is often difficult and costly to obtain individual-level student achievement data, yet, researchers are frequently reluctant to use school-level achievement data that are widely available from state websites. We argue that public-use aggregate school-level achievement data are, in fact, sufficient to address a wide range of evaluation questions…

This article develops a simple model of teacher value-added to show how efficient use of information across subjects can improve the predictive ability of value-added models. Using matched student-teacher data from North Carolina, we show that the optimal use of math and reading scores improves the fit of prediction models of overall future…

Several conceptions of schooling are outcome-bound: input-output models, school effectiveness models, classroom learning models, and systems theory models. Problems with each of these conceptions are identified, followed by a brief discussion of an outcome-free approach in which schools are viewed as cultural ecologies. (BW)