Value added measure

[forevermore]

I am new to the education league table and trying to assess how well a local secondary state school is ACTUALLY doing. Apparently the current league table will now be based in value added measure. What is this and how do we use this figure to determine if the school is doing good or not!?

It is the measure of the kids results compared with the basic expectation of their results on arrival.
1000 = they have done exactly as anticipated
over 1000 they have done better (implying good teaching and systems)
under 1000 they have done worse
BUT
you really need to data mine and see how schools do with different parts of the cohort and what their intake is like to check the reality

there are lies, damned lies and statistics
after all

So the higher the number the better the teaching standard? And how could this be influenced or how much is this dependant on the original intake of pupils.

the higher the number the better they have done with what they have been given

some of the very highest VA is in some of the shittiest areas where teachers work wonders with the kids who arrive

some of the lowest is in Kent grammars where the kids are tutored to the eyeballs on arrival and coast back to a wide spread over the years