Academic Value-Added Information - Frequently Asked Questions
The purpose of the Academic Value-added (VA) Information
1.
What is the purpose of the Schools Value-added Information System (SVAIS)?
The release of the Academic Value-added (VA) information to schools by the Education Bureau aims at providing schools with quantitative and objective data on students’ academic performance, which can facilitate schools to review the effectiveness of learning and teaching. Schools can download VA reports through Schools Value-added Information System (SVAIS). In conjunction with other school-based assessment data and information (e.g. students' results in internal assessments), schools can perform self-evaluation by integrative analysis of the data and information. The VA information only reflects students’ academic performance. Schools should make use of other sources of information such as the Assessment Program for Affective and Social Outcomes (APASO), school-based questionnaires and teachers’ observations to understand the whole-person development of the students in order to formulate and implement follow-up action plans for continuous improvements.
The Release of the Academic Value-added (VA) Information
1.
Can schools disclose the Academic Value-added (VA) information for publicity purposes?
School management (including the Incorporated Management Committee / School Management Committee) should monitor the use of Academic Value-added (VA) information by their schools to ensure that VA information is solely used as one of the information for school self-evaluation, aiming at enhancing student learning and promoting continuous development of the schools, rather than for other purposes, such as publicity. If a school opts for releasing its VA information to other parties (including parents and the public), the school is obliged to disclose the full set of VA information, but not selectively, in order to avoid misleading the recipients. Once the school has chosen to release the VA information to other parties, the school has to stick to this practice in subsequent years. Should the school fail to comply with the relevant agreement, the Education Bureau will consider suspending the provision of VA information to that school.
2.
Can schools obtain the Academic Value-added (VA) information of individual classes?
Academic Value-added (VA) information is compiled at school level. In general, students study different classes and are taught by different teachers from S1 to S6. Hence, it is difficult to compile the VA information by class. In addition, if students studying a certain subject in a school are further classified into different classes, the number of students in each class will be significantly smaller when compared with the whole school. Hence, the accuracy of the VA information by class is relatively lower. Based on the above-mentioned factors, the Education Bureau does not compile the VA information by class.
The Interpretation of the Academic Value-added (VA) Information
1.
What is Academic Value-added (VA) Stanine?
The Academic Value-added (VA) scores of all schools in each subject are ranked in ascending order and subsequently transformed into nine groups (stanines). The stanine is a normalised standard score ranging from 1 to 9, with a mean of 5 and a standard deviation of 2. The stanine for each school provides a crude indication of the VA performance of the user’s school relative to other schools. Schools are advised not to rely solely on stanines to review their VA performance since stanines do not take into consideration the confidence interval, i.e., the accuracy of the VA estimates.
2.
What is the meaning of the ”0” point in the y-axis of the Academic Value-added (VA) scores shown in the graphs of the Schools Value-added Information System (SVAIS)?
Academic Value-added (VA) scores are based on the calculation of the difference between student actual attainment in the HKDSE and the statistically predicted attainment in the HKDSE after taking into account students’ academic ability in S1 and other background characteristics (control variables). If there is no difference between the predicted and actual attainment, the VA estimate will be zero, indicating that the progress of students in that school is on a par with the territory average.
1.
If the school loses the password of Schools Value-added Information System (SVAIS), what are the procedures for re-issuance?
If the school loses the password for the account of “School User”, the password can be reset by the “School Administrator” under the “User Maintenance” section. If the school loses the password for the account of “School Administrator”, the school personnel may download the form from the “Forgot Password” section and make an application to the Bureau, as instructed, for resetting the password.