Part C

WHAT DO ME MEAN BY 'VALUE ADDED' ?
	Value added measures are intended to allow fairer comparison between schools with different intakes. For example, the pupils at school 'A', in a 'leafy suburb', may generally achieve above the national average at GCSE/GNVQ. In school 'B', in a more disadvantaged location, pupils may generally achieve below the national average at GCSE/GNVQ. But which school adds more value? Using Key Stage 3 results as a starting point, it is possible to see whether groups of pupils at each of these two schools have made more or less progress in terms of their total GCSE/GNVQ point scores. School 'A' may well have more pupils gaining 5 A* - C but the pupils in school 'B' may have made more progress relative to their Key Stage 3 starting point and thus have higher value added 'scores'.
	There are several different possible ways of measuring value added. All systems use performance data but some also have additional factors such as the take up of free school meals. The SCAA (School Curriculum and Assessment Authority) National Value Added project found that the best predictor of future performance is a pupil's previous attainment regardless of other factors. The most straightforward system, which is used for this pilot, and in the work which DfEE and QCA (Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, formerly SCAA) are doing on value added for school improvement, uses only performance data.
	So the key to full value added measures is the availability of suitable data on the attainment of individual pupils at different stages of their education. This means that progress can be measured between one stage and another for that pupil, and, by aggregating the pupil 'scores', a value added measure calculated for the school. Data in a suitable form is only now becoming available. First to come on stream are the Key Stage 3 test/task results which, compared with the1998 GCSE/GNVQ exam results, have been used to provide the pilot value added measures in these tables. Data for other key stages will become available over the next few years. GCSE/GNVQ results for comparison with Key Stage 2 results will be available from 2003 at the earliest. For primary schools, Key Stage 2 results for comparison with Key Stage 1 results will be available from 2002 or 2003.
ABOUT THE 1998 VALUE ADDED PILOT
	Four hundred schools were initially identified as having relatively complete Key Stage 3 data at pupil level. A broadly representative national sample of 200 volunteer secondary schools was produced. The pilot was designed to test data collection, matching, calculation and presentation of value added measures, based on the progress made by individual pupils between Key Stage 3 and GCSE/GNVQ. Nearly 30,000 pupils are covered by the pilot, the total cohort of 15 year old pupils (the number of pupils aged 15 at the start of the school year and on roll at the 1998 School Census date) being 615,480.
	Participating schools provided and checked the pupil data needed to work out value added measures for each school. Schools were asked to check Key Stage 3 test/task results in English, maths and science for all eligible pupils. For each pupil, the average of their test/task levels at Key Stage 3 forms the 'input' measure or starting point. The schools later checked their 1998 GCSE/GNVQ results and also verified that, for each pupil, they matched with the correct Key Stage 3 results. The total GCSE/GNVQ point score for each pupil forms the 'output' measure or finishing point.
	The value added 'score' for each pupil is the difference between their GCSE/GNVQ total point score and the median GCSE/GNVQ point score for all pupils with a similar average Key Stage 3 score. These are then aggregated to give a 'score' for the school represented numerically or as a band. This indicates the value the school has added, on average, for those pupils between Key Stage 3 and GCSE/GNVQ.
	As well as having an average value added indicator for each school, it is possible to calculate other indicators, for example, for boys and girls separately. Several have been tried out for the pilot.
	This is the first time that DfEE has calculated and published value added measures on such a large scale. Although a great deal of preparation and thought went into the exercise, it is a pilot and although there were always good reasons for doing something in one way, it could often equally well have been done in another. Nonetheless, the measures are statistically robust and the technical annex explains in more detail how the value added measures were calculated.