Los Angeles To Release More Value-Added Data On Elementary Teachers

The Los Angeles Times (5/9, Song, Felch) reports that it is "releasing a major update to its elementary school teacher ratings, underscoring the large disparities throughout the nation's second-largest school district in instructors' abilities to raise student test scores." The Times is releasing "value-added ratings for about 11,500 third- through fifth-grade teachers, nearly double the number released last August," stating that the data "reflects changes in the way the scores were calculated and displayed. ... The initial release of teacher ratings last summer generated intense controversy - and some praise - across the country, and this round has already met with some opposition."