The Los Angeles Times looked at several years of test scores and calculated the impact of teachers using value-added analysis. 20% of teachers are in the BEST category and 20% were the WORST, where students saw dramatically lower improvement. Great teachers can be found at nearly every school, but so can horrible teachers.
I thought it would be valuable to give parents more unencumbered access to the data, so I compiled a list of the worst teachers in LAUSD. Protective unions have made it impossible to fire poor performing teachers, so parents must respond by working equally hard to protect their kids.
I live in San Diego and unfortunately this data is not available for my district. If it were and my kid was assigned to one of the worst teachers, I would stage a sit-in and demand they be moved. It's worth a day in the principal's office to ensure my child gets the attention he deserves.
--MR
