Betty Anne Bright

A 4th grade teacher at Justice Street 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 2002-03 through 2008-09 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.

Overall value-added effectiveness

Math effectiveness

English effectiveness

This chart shows where teachers in this effectiveness category fall on a distribution of all teachers’ scores.

Compared with other Los Angeles Unified teachers on the value-added measure of test score improvement, Bright ranked:

More effective than average overall.
Average in math. Students of teachers in this category, on average, did not gain or lose significantly on the California Standards Test compared with other students at their grade level.
Most effective in English. Students of teachers in this category, on average, gained about 7 percentile points on the California Standards Test compared with other students at their grade level.

Bright's LAUSD teaching history

2002-03 through 2008-09 academic years

Justice Street Elementary, 2009 - 2003

Betty Bright's Response:

Standardized testing is only one measure of a student's growth and may not accurately reflect a student's knowledge or the value that a teacher has added for that child. A 2010 report by the U.S. Department of Education stated that more than 90 percent of the variation in scores is due to student-level factors beyond the control of their teachers. Further, overemphasis on test scores often leads to a narrowing of the curriculum and rewards teaching to the test. As a result many important, but untested, areas of the curriculum may be omitted. This is not in the best interest of our students.

I work hard to engage my students in meaningful learning activities and their growth is evident throughout the year. One test cannot adequately assess what they have achieved. Over reliance on a single measure does not result in an accurate picture.

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.