Superintendent John Deasy walks through an economics classroom at Los Angeles High School. Credit: Tami Abdollah/KPCC
Should student test scores be used in teacher evaluations? The Los Angeles Unified School District and its teachers union have come to a tentative agreement to allow the use of student test scores in end-of-year evaluations.
The decision follows months of negotiations between LAUSD and the teachers union, which has consistently opposed the use of student scores in grading teachers, calling the results unreliable.
Although the union has provisionally agreed to incorporate test scores into evaluations, the decision still needs to be ratified by members of United Teachers Los Angeles. As part of the new system, test scores will contribute to less than 25 percent of individual teacher performance reviews. LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy has long been a proponent of using scores in evaluations.
How much weight should student’s testing carry in teacher evaluations? Are test scores a reliable assessment of a teacher’s abilities? Of a student’s? What is the best way to measure a teacher’s success? Should assessment be focused more on individuals, or should they be school-wide?
Guests:Dr. John Deasy, Superintendent of LAUSD
Warren Fletcher, President, United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA)
LAUSD-UTLA December 2012 Evaluation Procedures Supplement to Article X