One more argument for value added measures

Wauwatosa, a Milwaukee suburb, is debating whether to close schools or bring in more students from outside the city through the state's open enrollment program. Most of these students are from Milwaukee and there lies the rub. According to the school superintendent these students change the culture and depress test scores. An article describes the debate while an opinion column attacks the suburb for using and then abandoning black students.

The test score issue, at least, would be less critical if schools were judged by the value added by the schools, rather than the absolute values of the test scores. Value-added measures compare schools' outputs to their inputs, reducing the incentive to avoid enrolling students who are behind.