(Photo by Laura Walsh)

Members of the United Teachers of Los Angeles donned red shirts as they rallied around the Los Angeles Times headquarters to protest the newspaper's publication of the controversial teacher effectiveness database. The database uses a controversial “value-added method” to rank teachers in the district based on students’ test scores.

“It is skewed data that is completely inaccurate. It’s not reliable,” said Lupe Carrandi, a fifth grade teacher at nearby West Vernon Elementary School. 

AJ Duffy, president of the UTLA, said test scores should not be the sole basis for judging a teacher.

“Standardized test scores relate to only 15 percent of what is taught in a year,” Duffy said.

He said that although a large chunk of the school year is dedicated to preparation for testing, teachers are also responsible for supporting a good environment and developing critical thinking skills.

Duffy is just one of 350 teachers who cancelled his subscription to the LA Times, irate that 50 percent of the district teachers’ evaluation could potentially be based on what they claim is misconstrued information. 

Many found flaws not just with the method used to create the database, but also with the data.

Duffy relayed the concerns of a friend who happened upon the database: “My cousin was listed as an ineffective teacher. This is probably because he has been dead for the past 10 years.”

Several other teachers said that their names appeared on faculty lists for schools that they had not taught at for many years.

The Times released a statement defending its database, though it did not specifically comment on the claim that teachers who no longer teach are included.

The Los Angeles Unified School District has validated and in many instances supported the Times’ approach to teacher evaluation methods, and U.S. Secretary of Education

Arne Duncan agrees that teachers have a specific right to know teachers’ relation to students’ test scores.

Duffy acknowledged that there are problems with the way teachers are evaluated, but did not agree that the Times’ approach was the right one.

After the protest, Union members and the LAUSD met to negotiate terms of agreement with regard to evaluations.

Reach reporter Laura Walsh here.

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