Deborah V. Harrison
A 5th grade teacher at San Gabriel Avenue Elementary in 2010
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. Harrison falls within the “least effective” category of district teachers in math and within the “less effective than average” category in English. These ratings were calculated based on test scores from 160 students.
Because this is a statistical measure, each score has a degree of uncertainty. The shading represents the range of values within which Harrison’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.
Harrison's LAUSD teaching history
Years used for value-added rating. See FAQ for details.
- San Gabriel Avenue Elementary, 2010 - 2004
Deborah Harrison's Response:
You still have not validated your results satisfactorily for me. Nowhere in your data do you account for students' knowledge prior to 5th grade. If they were already low, maybe they did do better. Nowhere in your data do you show what may have occured in the students' lives -past or just the night before. This effects learning. Nowhere in your data do you show students who are not test takers. They freeze or they play a game of dot-to-dot. Nowhere in your data do you respond to how class size affects learning or even whether students' continue to study at home.
Your data will never convince me that I was a less than effective teacher. It does show that your newspaper/reporter has no concern for human beings already being kicked around and how they will react to your data. No, I won't commit suicide because I KNOW that I was an excellent tracher and I was effective. I taught my students from where they entered my room and using high expectations and any means necessay to teach them, my students learned. They exceeded my expectations. Standardized testing cannot show all of a student's learning. It is limited to certain information that the student may or may not know.
Until you walk in my shoes(not for a day, but for years) you cannot evaluate me or any teacher. Good administrators are those who spent years in the classroom and know what to look for. Teachers need to get back their power to plan, teach, and evaluate. They need stop trying to teach to the test. I have been curious why aren't you evaluating doctors, dentists, or even lawyers. They too provide a service. I think the reason is simple: People can critize/evalate teachers because every individual has spent years in a classroom and tends to feel they know about teaching. WRONG!
I am now retired. You should be happy. I would have spent any extra time I had this last year critiquing /evaluating your newsarticles. I would have bombarded your offices with letters, my students' work(some ungraded--for your grade and timespent), requests for the reporter to get down into the trenches--not use useless data.
I am so disappointed in your newspaper. I give you a failing grade for these articles. GRADE = F
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.
Permalink
|
Delicious
|
Digg
|
Facebook
|
Twitter
|
