Carol T. Banks
A 3rd grade teacher at Melvin Avenue Elementary in 2009
These graphs show a teacher's "value-added" rating based on his or her students' progress on the California Standards Tests in math and English. The Times’ analysis used all valid student scores available for this teacher from the 2003-04 through 2009-10 academic years. The value-added scores reflect a teacher's effectiveness at raising standardized test scores and, as such, capture only one aspect of a teacher's work.
Math effectiveness
English effectiveness
About this rating
The red lines show The Times’ value-added estimates for this teacher. Banks falls within the “most effective” category of district teachers in math and within the “most effective” category in English. These ratings were calculated based on test scores from 95 students.
Because this is a statistical measure, each score has a degree of uncertainty. The shading represents the range of values within which Banks’s actual effectiveness score is most likely to fall. The score is most likely to be in the center of the shaded area, near the red line, and less likely in the lightly shaded area. Teachers with ratings based on a small number of student test scores will a have wider shaded range.
The beige area shows how the district's 11,500 elementary school teachers are distributed across the categories.
Banks' LAUSD teaching history
Years used for value-added rating. See FAQ for details.
- Melvin Avenue Elementary, 2009 - 2004
Carol Banks's Response:
There is so much more that goes into test scores than shows here. It is all about WHERE the students are when you receive them as students. If they are already at the top there is no room for improvement. If they are LOW (as my students generally were) then it is easier for dedicated educators to bring up their test scores. It is a shame that the "be all and end all" has to be test scores. What about reasoning, problem solving and critical thinking skills? All the emphasis on testing is, I am afraid, going to result in a group of test takers who don't know how to solve problems. I wish the so-called "experts" would spend one day - or at least one week - in the classroom and they would better understand the issues education is REALLY facing.
The Times gave LAUSD elementary school teachers rated in this database the opportunity to preview their value-added evaluations and publicly respond. Some issues raised by teachers may be addressed in the FAQ. Teachers who have not commented may do so by contacting The Times.
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