Los Angeles Moves Toward Incorporating Test Scores In Teacher Evaluations

The Los Angeles Times (12/7, Blume) reports the Los Angeles teachers union leaders are backing a "tentative agreement on teacher evaluations that incorporates the results of student standardized test scores. The approval was a key hurdle but rank-and-file members will have the final say when they vote at their schools in January." Proponents of the plan stressed "the deal did not permit a 'value-added' calculation for an individual teacher to be a specific part of that teacher's job evaluation. Value-added formulas gauge a teacher's role in student growth by attempting to account for past student performance and outside factors that affect test scores." The agreement allows "for test results to factor into an evaluation, but it doesn't specify how much they will count for. Union President Warren Fletcher characterized this lack of specifics as a victory for union negotiators."