According to a follow-up analysis of value-added scores for Los Angeles Unified (LAUSD) teachers, the district’s best elementary school teachers share few common traits.
The [Los Angeles] Times found that the 100 most effective [LAUSD] teachers were scattered across the city, from Pacoima to Gardena, Woodland Hills to Bell. They varied widely in race, age, years of experience and education level. They taught students who were wealthy and poor, gifted and struggling.
In visits to several of their classrooms, reporters found their teaching styles and personalities to differ significantly. They were quiet and animated, smiling and stern. Some stuck to the basics, while others veered far from the district?s often-rigid curriculum. Those interviewed said repeatedly that being effective at raising students? performance does not mean simply ?teaching to the test,? as critics of value-added analysis say they fear.
Do you mean to tell me that the most successful teachers in Los Angeles are not white men and women working in suburban schools with white/Asian boys and girls from wealthy families? Do tell!
By the way, NC DPI keeps value-added data on the state’s teachers in a computer system called EVAAS. But education officials refuse to release the data…even to reward the state’s best teachers with the pay they deserve.
