LA Times Gives Teachers the Star Treatment
There isn’t much left to be said about the Los Angeles Times‘ teacher value-added database, but I’ll try anyway.
1) It’s not something I would have done, because the wholesale naming of teachers doesn’t, um, add much value to the story. The numbers should be used to identify schools and teachers who deserve further review, and then find out if the statistics accurately reflect what’s going on. Afterwards, the naming of teachers who are doing exceptionally well, or exceptionally poorly, is justified and necessary.
2) That having been said, the Times analysis was generated from public records about public employees. Theletter signed by the presidents of the National Education Association, California Teachers Association, and
