Bill Sanders responds to public criticisim of his VA model

Ed Week covered a dispute (May 6, 2008) between Bill Sanders (SAS Inc.) and Audrey Amrein-Beardsley (Arizona State University). Assistant Professor Amrein-Beardsly published (Ed Researcher) her own analysis of data collected in a study Sanders conducted on the effectiveness of board-certified teachers in North Carolina.

What this exchange confirms is that smart, well meaning people can come to entirely different conclusions. In particular, the argument that a simple model is required for VA to be accepted is completely at odds with our experience that VA models have to be quite complex to be fair. There is no simple answer to the transparency-equity argument. It is a normative paradox that leaves scholars red-faced and exasperated on both sides of the argument.

Chris