Audrey Amrein-Beardsley, PhD, is currently a Professor at Arizona State University. Her research interests include educational policy, educational measurement, and research methods with emphases on quantitative, survey research, and evaluation methods. She is the author of nearly 100 peer- and editorially-reviewed journal articles and two academic books - one published in 2014 titled "Rethinking Value-Added Models in Education: Critical Perspectives on Tests and Assessment-Based Accountability" (here) and the other published in 2016 titled "Student Growth Measures in Policy and Practice: Intended and Unintended Consequences of High-Stakes Evaluations" (here). Her research has been highlighted in popular press outlets including National Public Radio (NPR), The New York Times, USA Today, The Washington Post, Education Week, The Huffington Post, The Economist; other local news outlets (e.g., The Boston Globe, The Houston Chronicle, The Dallas Morning News, The Arizona Republic); and television media, including Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) shows and HBO's Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (here).
Professor Amrein-Beardsley's research, more specifically, focuses on the use of value-added models (VAMs) in and across states before and since the federal passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). For states still relying on VAMs for high-stakes, consequential decision-making purposes, she is conducting validation studies on multiple system components, as well as serving as an expert witness in many legal cases surrounding the (mis)uses of VAM-based output. Her research centers around two questions:
Professor Amrein-Beardsley is also the creator of the blog VAMboozled!, now with over 55,000 followers. She is also creator/host of a web series entitled Inside the Academy during which she interviews and archives the personal and professional histories of some of the top educational researchers in the national academy.
Professor Amrein-Beardsley's research focuses on the use of value-added models (VAMs) in and across states before and since the federal passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). For states still relying on VAMs for high-stakes, consequential decision-making purposes, she is conducting validation studies on multiple system components, as well as serving as an expert witness in many legal cases surrounding the (mis)uses of VAM-based output. Her research centers around two questions:
*Selected Publications (see CV for full list)
Amrein-Beardsley, A., *Geiger, T. J., & *Winn, K. (2022). States’ performance on NAEP mathematics and reading exams after the implementation of school letter grade accountability policies. Cogent Education, 9(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2022.2063223
Fischman, G. E., Amrein-Beardsley, A., & McBride-Schreiner, S. (2022). Education research is still the hardest science: A proposal for improving its trustworthiness and usability. F1000Research, 11(230). https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.109700.1
*Gong, B., Collins, C., & Amrein-Beardsley, A. (2022). An international professional development collaboration: Supporting teachers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia through an immersion program in the United States. Gulf Education and Social Policy Review, 2(2), 115-143. https://doi.org/10.18502/gespr.v2i1.10045
Lavery, M. R., Amrein-Beardsley, A., *Geiger, T., & Pivovarova, M. (2020). Value-added model (VAM) scholars on using VAMs for teacher evaluation, after the passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). Teachers College Record, 122(8). https://www.tcrecord.org/content.asp?contentid=23320
*Geiger, T. J., & Amrein-Beardsley, A. (2020). Student perception surveys for K-12 teacher evaluation in the United States: A survey of surveys. Cogent Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2019.1602943
*Geiger, T. J., Amrein-Beardsley, A., & Holloway, J. (2020). Using test scores to evaluate and hold school teachers accountable in New Mexico. Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability, 32(2), 187-235. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11092-020-09324-w
Paige, M. A., & Amrein-Beardsley, A. (2020). “Houston, we have a lawsuit:” A cautionary tale for the implementation of value-added models (VAMs) for high-stakes employment decisions. Educational Researcher. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X20923046
Amrein-Beardsley, A., & *Geiger, T. J. (2020). Methodological concerns about the Education Value-Added Assessment System (EVAAS): Validity, reliability, and bias. SAGE Open, 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244020922224
*Close, K., Amrein-Beardsley, A., & Collins, C. (2020). Putting teacher evaluation systems on the map: An overview of states’ teacher evaluation systems post-Every Student Succeeds Act. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 28(1), 1-58. https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.28.5252
Amrein-Beardsley, A., Sloat, E., & Holloway, J. (2020). All value-added models (VAMs) are wrong, but sometimes they may be useful. AASA Journal of Scholarship and Practice, 17(1), 31-39. https://www.aasa.org/uploadedFiles/Publications/JSPspring2020.FINAL.v1.pdf
Amrein-Beardsley, A. (2019). The Education Value-Added Assessment System (EVAAS) on trial: A precedent-setting lawsuit with implications for policy and practice. eJournal of Education Policy. Retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1234497.pdf
Amrein-Beardsley, A., & *Geiger, T. J. (2019). Potential sources of invalidity when using teacher value-added and principal observational estimates: Artificial inflation, deflation, and conflation. Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability, 31(4), 465-493. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11092-019-09311-w
Amrein-Beardsley, A., & *Close, K. (2019). Teacher-level value-added models (VAMs) on trial: Empirical and pragmatic issues of concern across five court cases. Educational Policy 35(6), 1-42 https://doi.org/10.1177/0895904819843593
Paige, M. A., Amrein-Beardsley, A., & *Close, K. (2019). Tennessee’s national impact on teacher evaluation law & policy: An assessment of value-added model litigation [Law Review]. Tennessee Journal of Law & Policy, 13(2), 523-574.
Kwon, J. Y., Kulinna, P. H, van der Mars, H, Amrein-Beardsley, A., & Koro-Ljungberg, M. (2019). Comprehensive school physical activity programs preparation in physical education teacher education programs. Journal of Teaching in Physical Education, 38(3), 271-276. https://doi.org/10.1123/jtpe.2018-0110
Amrein-Beardsley, A., & Collins, C. (2018). Using the Texas Value-Added Assessment System (TxVAAS) to improve teacher effectiveness: Investigating the research-situated “truths” behind TxVAAS claims. Journal of Educational Research and Practice, 8(1), 146-178. https://doi.org/10.5590/JERAP.2018.08.1.12
Sloat, E., Amrein-Beardsley, A., & Sabo, K. E. (2018). The TAP System for Teacher and Student Advancement: A (questionable) system of teacher accountability and professional support. AASA Journal of Scholarship and Practice, 15(3), 4-11.
Sloat, E., Amrein-Beardsley, A., Holloway, J. (2018). Different teacher-level effectiveness estimates, different results: Inter-model concordance across six generalized value-added models (VAMs). Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability, 30(4), 367-397. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11092-018-9283-7
Paufler, N. A., & Amrein-Beardsley, A. (2018). Classics and contemporaries: The "Top Ten" books recommended by some of the finest in the education academy. Critical Questions in Education, 100-116. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1191118.pdf
Kwon, J. Y., Kulinna, P. H., van der Mars, H., Koro-Ljungberg, M., Amrein-Beardsley, A., & Norris, J. (2018). Physical education pre-service teachers’ perceptions about preparation for Comprehensive School Physical Activity Programs. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 89(2), 221-234. https://doi.org/10.1080/02701367.2018.1443196
Pivovarova, M., & Amrein-Beardsley, A. (2018). Median growth percentiles (MGPs): Assessment of intertemporal stability and correlations with observational scores. Educational Assessment, 2, 139-155. https://doi.org/10.1080/10627197.2018.1449634
Summer 2022 | |
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Course Number | Course Title |
EPA 792 | Research |
EPA 799 | Dissertation |
Spring 2022 | |
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Course Number | Course Title |
EDU 598 | Special Topics |
TEL 710 | Innov Disseminating Res |
TEL 780 | Practicum |
EPA 792 | Research |
DCI 792 | Research |
TEL 799 | Dissertation |
DCI 799 | Dissertation |
EPA 799 | Dissertation |
Fall 2021 | |
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Course Number | Course Title |
EPA 691 | Seminar |
TEL 710 | Innov Disseminating Res |
TEL 780 | Practicum |
EPA 790 | Reading and Conference |
EPA 792 | Research |
TEL 799 | Dissertation |
EPA 799 | Dissertation |
Summer 2021 | |
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Course Number | Course Title |
TEL 710 | Innov Disseminating Res |
TEL 780 | Practicum |
EPA 792 | Research |
EPA 799 | Dissertation |
Spring 2021 | |
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Course Number | Course Title |
TEL 710 | Innov Disseminating Res |
TEL 780 | Practicum |
DCI 784 | Internship |
EPA 784 | Internship |
TEL 792 | Research |
EPA 792 | Research |
DCI 792 | Research |
DCI 799 | Dissertation |
EPA 799 | Dissertation |
Fall 2020 | |
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Course Number | Course Title |
COE 691 | Seminar |
EPA 790 | Reading and Conference |
TEL 792 | Research |
EPA 792 | Research |
EPA 799 | Dissertation |
Summer 2020 | |
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Course Number | Course Title |
EPA 792 | Research |
EPA 799 | Dissertation |
Spring 2020 | |
---|---|
Course Number | Course Title |
EPA 691 | Seminar |
EPA 784 | Internship |
DCI 784 | Internship |
EPA 792 | Research |
DCI 792 | Research |
EPA 799 | Dissertation |
DCI 799 | Dissertation |
Fall 2019 | |
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Course Number | Course Title |
EPA 790 | Reading and Conference |
EPA 792 | Research |
EPA 799 | Dissertation |
Summer 2019 | |
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Course Number | Course Title |
EPA 792 | Research |
EPA 799 | Dissertation |
Spring 2019 | |
---|---|
Course Number | Course Title |
EPA 691 | Seminar |
EPA 784 | Internship |
DCI 784 | Internship |
EPA 792 | Research |
DCI 792 | Research |
EPA 799 | Dissertation |
DCI 799 | Dissertation |
Fall 2018 | |
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Course Number | Course Title |
EPA 691 | Seminar |
EPA 790 | Reading and Conference |
EPA 792 | Research |
EPA 799 | Dissertation |
Summer 2018 | |
---|---|
Course Number | Course Title |
EPA 792 | Research |
EPA 799 | Dissertation |
Spring 2018 | |
---|---|
Course Number | Course Title |
EPA 691 | Seminar |
EPA 784 | Internship |
DCI 784 | Internship |
EPA 792 | Research |
DCI 792 | Research |
EPA 799 | Dissertation |
DCI 799 | Dissertation |
Fall 2017 | |
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Course Number | Course Title |
EPA 691 | Seminar |
TEL 701 | Advanced Quantitative Methods |
EPA 790 | Reading and Conference |
EPA 792 | Research |
EPA 799 | Dissertation |
*Selected Presentations (most recent two years; see CV for full list)
*Selected Honors/Awards (see CV for full list)
2019, Nominee for the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Division D – Measurement and Research Methodologies – Robert L. Linn Distinguished Address Award
2019, Elected Fellow of the National Education Policy Center (NEPC), University of Colorado, Boulder. NEPC Profile: https://nepc.colorado.edu/author/amrein-beardsley-audrey
2015, Outstanding Integration of Scholarship and Service Award, Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College - Arizona State University (ASU)
2015, Fellow in the Arizona State University (ASU) Leadership Academy (LA) within the Global Institute of Sustainability and the Office of Knowledge and Enterprise Development (OKED).
2014, College faculty honored/highlighted in the new ASU Charter video. This video includes a "comprehensive document focusing the university's mission on the inclusion and success of all its students, and on a fundamental social responsibility to the communities ASU serves." Retrieved from here.
2011-2014, Ranked as one of three education professors at ASU in the top 1% (2oo/2o,ooo) edu-scholars in the nation, honored in Education Week for being university-based academics who are contributing most substantially to public debates about America's public education system [ranked 118/121 for 2011; 136/168 for 2012, 175/200 for 2013].
2011, Best Paper Award - The effect of the Education Value-Added Assessment System (EVAAS) on teaching practices and the profession, Arizona Educational Research Organization (AERO)
2011, Featured Speaker - US Education Senate Committee, Invited to speak about the intended and unintended effects of the SAS® Education Value-Added Assessment System (EVAAS®). Invited with Linda Darling-Hammond (Stanford), Ed Haertel (Stanford), & Jesse Rothstein (UC Berkeley).
2010, Awarded Tenure as ASU Presidential Exemplar
2003, Best Article in an Electronic Journal for 2002, American Educational Research Association (AERA), Article: High-stakes testing, uncertainty, and student learning.
*See CV for full list
*See CV for full list, including professional-, college-, and university-level service