Research shows that there are at least four age related factors correlated with the level of school achievement and improvement: month of birth, early or delayed school entry and grade retention. Educational value added (EVA) measures are used in the evaluation of school effectiveness. They are estimated from relative increases in achievement. However, Polish EVA models do not include student age, which may bias the calculated indicators. This article presents findings from a study estimating the magnitude of this bias for Polish lower secondary schools over four years (2010–2013). The results demonstrated that the inclusion of student age only slightly changed EVA estimates. The bias caused by omitting age in recent years seems, therefore, rather minor.
The article discusses the possibility of using low-stakes tests to assess teaching effectiveness measures (educational value-added, EVA) for primary schools in Poland. It was shown that EVA, calculated using the results of the OBUT test for diagnosis of skills of third grade pupils, which is voluntary for schools, and the Sprawdzian – external examination conducted in the sixth grade, can be a valuable tool for evaluation, provided that the third-grade test is conducted and assessed in accordance with the procedures. The authors identified problems in this field. Disturbing characteristics of the OBUT test may suggest that these procedures have not been complied with in every school. For this reason, the authors recommend changes in the implementation of such diagnoses of school achievements.
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