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The students at this school do not come proficient into their grade level. Students are usually 2 to 3 years behind both in mathematics and language arts. There was excellent school leadership, classroom support, and exceptional professional development from 1996 through 2005. During the years spanning from September 2005 until I left in December 2009 there was a lack of school vision and leadership. Additionally the classroom support declined tremendously as well as the effectiveness and relevance of professional development. During the academic year of 2009 to 2010 I taught a 6th grade class for only 10 weeks. I left in December of 2009. Finally research has shown it is the parents level of expectations and involvement in the monitoring of the child's education that makes the most difference in their achievement and success no matter what language the parents speak.

Please do not construe my comments here as in any way dignifying or validating your results. Once again your data reflects very little reality. My school departmentalizes in the upper two grades. My "scores" do not reflect the fact that during the years you purport to analyze in your graphs, sometimes I taught only math, sometimes only language arts, and sometimes both. This public dissemination of "results" are from an inaccurate database, skewed to fulfill your paper's need to sensationalize in order to hold onto your dwindling readership in the wake of exponential growth in the use of alternative media.

While all of your "sidebar" explanations attempt to boost the credibility of your reports, you still have no standing in the education community. These rationalizations serve only to make your paper look desperate for revenue, rather than offering a public service to the parents/guardians of LAUSD.

Might I suggest raffling off your office furniture as a less slanderous avenue for generating income.

During that school year, our grade level did teaming. My math class reflects the fact that I taught the "intensive" level group, those who were not proficient in that area and therefore may not have done well on the CST tests. My language arts class was the "advanced" group and most probably did well on the CST tests. Of course I would be least effective in math and more effective in language arts based on the make up of the teaming groups! If you have teaming groups you cannot rate a teacher accurately at all! This point has been made to the LA Times by other teachers and does not accurately reflect whether that teacher is a "good" one or not!

First of all, I was a Math Coach from 2001 to 2005. I came back to the classroom July 1,2005. In order to smear my reputation or get as sensational as you can get, you published my name in all the schools where I worked as a Coach. All I can tell you, Mr. Research and Publication is this- I dare you to spend one full day in any classroom with 30+ LEP students with their various personal needs. One full day . Then come back and we can compare notes.Do I have your permission now to get back to my students , now that lunch recess is over?

I don't think this is a fair or accurate measure of my effectiveness as a teacher. I had been given 3 students with extreme behavior problems at the beginning of the year and I dealt with it. However, as the year progressed, I gained 4 more from teachers who were unable or unwilling to work with them. Two students were fourth grade (older) students that had been so threatening and disruptive to their teacher's class that the teacher refused to take them anymore. I, however, refused to give up on them. I may have seen some progress in their behavior by the end of the year, but I know there was a price. Instructional time is only one cost to be considered. I had a much harder job to do than others at my grade-level who chose to "get rid" of their discipline problems. In the area I teach, it is rough and I can't blame some of those students for having emotional/ behavioral issues. It wasn't an even playing field. Where did you factor that in? What about all the students that were mainstreamed from Special Ed. classes that other teachers said they wouldn't or couldn't work with? I feel like I'm being punished for being responsible and not saying no when I was asked to take students. I feel hurt and humiliated to be rated like this. Should I have refused to take those students in like the others? Where would they go? I know I'm not the only teacher to have been put in a situation like this.

I am so pleased with the scores that I recevied because I know how hard my students and I worked to help them achieve mastery of the grade-level standards. What is disheartening is that this information will not save my job in any way. My pink slip still hangs over my head everytime I come into work to do what I do best, teach the future of America.

I really am at a loss for words. I can't believe the Times is going to do this again. Despite this flawed evaluation system's opinion of me, I am not an ineffective teacher. My students know more when they leave my class than they did coming in, and they are prepared for the next grade as well. The test scores do not reflect that because the lessons I teach are not directly in line with what is tested. Standardized exams do not test writing or history, which make up 75% of what I teach during the course of a day. I have not taught math in 5 years, because we team teach at my school. Nevertheless, the performance of my students on math exams is used against me. Is this an accurate evaluation of a teacher? No, it's not. Yet, whether I agree with it or not, this is how people will judge me from now on. It is so irresponsible for the Times to do this AGAIN. I don't deserve to be slandered this way.

Whatever! How can you report this? In 2003-2004 I was a first year teacher in 5th grade AND in 2009-2010 I served as Reading Intervention Coordinator and as a Reading Specialist worked on small group pull out RtI Intervention. Basing this on CST data with a school that is in Program Improvement 5 should not be reflected as the teachers "least effectiveness". How about the countless hours of planning, committee work and professional developments that I have provided. WHERE are the ratings for those?? Sad, sad way for the LA Times to report on this. More data needs to be considered in addition to those outside of the classroom factors that teachers can't control. 12 years with the District and RIF'ed with a Masters Degree, Reading Specialist Certificate and Admin Credential. Just another way for someone sooo disconnected from the classroom to report on who they "THINK" is at fault. Just taking a piece of an evaluation and presenting it as truth is invalid and unjust. As a coordinator for the Student Success Team meetings and I took one aspect of a student's academics and therefore deemed that child as a failing student I might be questioned by parents, reprimanded by administrators and would have to show plenty of documentation prior to labeling the child as needing an assessment. Sound familiar? Oh wait, that is a process and you might HAVE to be on a school campus to know that THAT exists! I am actually a proponent of value added measure to some extent when it rolls out systematically and fairly with guidelines as I care, am dedicated to my profession, and want to make a difference. Does my label as Outstanding Teacher of the Year count? I have data to prove it!

First year of teaching.