Ordinary failures
Compton middle school students went on a field trip to Bear Stearns to learn about careers in finance. But they didn’t know enough to understand what they saw at the investment firm, a foundation...
View Article$2 million and 7 years to fire a teacher
Seven years after Los Angeles school officials fired a special education teacher for sexual harassment, a judge has approved the firing of Matthew Kim, reports the LA Times. Kim “was accused of...
View ArticleNo data, no dollars
Despite laws preventing the use of test scores in teacher evaluations, California, New York and Wisconsin are trying to argue that they qualify for Race to the Top funding, reports Ed Week’s Stephen...
View ArticleLA Times lists ‘effective’ teachers, schools
The Los Angeles has posted its list of the most and least effective third-, fourth- and fifth-grade teachers and schools with teachers’ comments. A few teachers are challenging the data, saying that...
View ArticleNo gold stars for LA teachers
Los Angeles doesn’t reward, recognize or try to learn from its most effective teachers, reports the LA Times in a follow-up to its value-added analysis of third- through fifth-grade teachers’ effects...
View ArticleTeachers ask for value-added data
According to LA Times reporters, many Los Angeles teachers are eager to get value-added feedback on their work, reports GOOD, which was part of a conference call with investigative reporter Jason Felch...
View ArticleLA teacher’s suicide linked to ratings
The apparent suicide of a Los Angeles teacher may be linked to the Los Angeles Times’ value-added ratings. Rigoberto Ruelas, 39, a fifth-grade teacher at Miramonte Elementary School, was rated “less...
View ArticleOn ranking teachers
The Los Angeles Times ranked teachers by value-added scores based on “demonstrably inadequate” research, concludes a National Education Policy Center study, Due Diligence and the Evaluation of...
View ArticleWhat’s the value of value-added?
Who’s right about the value of value-added? A University of Colorado analysis challenges the validity of the Los Angeles Times’ value-added analysis of teachers’ effectiveness. The Colorado “critique...
View ArticleLA Times hits college construction waste
Mismanagement, waste and shoddy construction plague the Los Angeles Community College District’s $5.7 billion rebuilding program, reports the LA Times. Also on Community College Spotlight: Facing $400...
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