Teachers investigation
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A Times analysis, using data largely ignored by LAUSD, looks at which educators help students learn, and which hold them back.
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At some elementary schools, students improve their test scores year after year. At others, they stagnate or fall behind. Data that go unused could offer insights into why.
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Effective instructors get little recognition. Often their principals don’t even know who they are.
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UTLA says the district did not “engage in good faith negotiation” over a new teacher evaluation system that includes use of student test scores. L.A. Unified is seeking volunteers to test the system.
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New data include ratings for about 11,500 teachers, nearly double the number covered last August. School and civic leaders had sought to halt release of the data.
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The approach focuses on how much progress students make year to year rather than measuring solely their achievement level. Parents are likely to be surprised.
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Miguel Aguilar was cited as among L.A. Unified’s most effective in an L.A. Times article on the ‘value-added’ evaluation method. Since then, many at his Pacoima school have adopted his methods. But budget cuts threaten his job.
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Los Angeles school district leaders are poised to plunge ahead with their own confidential ‘value-added’ ratings this spring, saying the approach is far more objective and accurate than any other evaluation tool available, despite its complexity.
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Teachers and administrators are enthusiastic about new evaluation systems at Fedde International Studies Academy in Hawaiian Gardens, but student test scores have yet to improve.
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Florida Gov. Rick Scott signs a far-reaching bill that has raised the ire of state and national unions.
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A University of Colorado review of Los Angeles Unified teacher effectiveness also raises some questions about the precision of ratings as reported in The Times.
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Manhattan judge’s ruling involves the performance ratings of 12,000 instructors.
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Using seniority as the sole factor hurts the learning ability of children, authors say.
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Years-long efforts to improve Markham Middle School in Watts included changing the curriculum, reducing class sizes and requiring uniforms. But real progress occurred when more effective teachers were brought in.
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Teachers stand firm against larger classes and evaluations using students’ test scores.
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It says media access to the evaluations, which name the educators, would cause harm.
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Washington is using the controversial ‘value-added’ method to evaluate teachers.
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After the budget ax fell, hundreds of the district’s most promising new instructors were laid off. Campuses in poorer areas — such as Liechty Middle School in the Westlake neighborhood — were disproportionately hurt.
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Some see them as obstacles, and even sympathizers agree their voice is muted.
