In the end (which is actually near the beginning of the manuscript), Goldhaber notes that VAMs are «
distinct» as compared to classroom observations, because they offer «an objective measure that does not rely on human interpretation of teacher
practices, and by design, [they offer] a system in which teachers are evaluated relative to one another rather than relative to an absolute
standard (i.e., it creates a distribution in which teachers can be ranked).
The American Mental Health Counseling Association sums up the work of mental health counselors quite well in its introduction to «Facts About Mental Clinical Health Counselors»: «Clinical mental health counseling is a
distinct profession with national
standards for education, training and clinical
practice.