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Morning Read: Study Praises Teacher Evaluation Tool
First Academic Study of Controversial LA Unified Teacher Evaluation Program An academic study of a teacher evaluation method that looks at how much teachers are able to improve students’ test scores gave the pilot program a good grade. But the study comes too late — the teacher’s union and Los Angeles Unified School District agreed...
By LA School Report | April 29, 2013
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District Makes Student Achievement 30% of Teacher Evaluation*
LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy has issued guidelines to all principals regarding the new teacher evaluations, which will be implemented by the start of the 2013-14 school year. But UTLA President Warren Fletcher says that the guidelines may violate the underlying agreement, which was ratified by UTLA on January 19th and approved by the School Board on Tuesday.
By Hillel Aron | February 15, 2013
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UTLA Supports Seattle Teachers’ Test Boycott
Earlier today, in a show of support for a group of Seattle teachers who are refusing to administer a standardized computer test to students, United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) urged its members to wear red and participate in what was called a “national day of action.” Watch a video of the teachers at Seattle’s Garfield High: The...
By Samantha Oltman | February 6, 2013
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Voices Urge “No” Vote On Evaluation
Former School Board candidate John Fernandez is among a handful of voices urging to teachers to vote against the tentative agreement struck between UTLA and LAUSD regarding teacher evaluations earlier this year. “The big problem is the district and the union have not figured out how much weight they will count for,” said Fernandez, who...
By Hillel Aron | December 20, 2012
Investigation: Nearly 1,000 Native Children Died in Federal Boarding Schools
Podcast: What a Mentorship Mindset Can Do for Student Motivation
Black and Hispanic Voters Say Democrats Aren’t Focused Enough on K-12 Education
Teen Activist Rhea Maniar on the Power of Abortion to Turn Out Young Voters
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UTLA’s Confusing Flip-Flop on Evaluations
While union president Warren Fletcher has claimed victory on a recent court-ordered tentative agreement on teacher evaluations, a closer look might leave rank-and-file teachers scratching their heads. UTLA has consistently opposed any use of student test scores in teacher evaluations in the past. So it was unexpected when the union leadership signed off on using...
By Samantha Oltman | December 12, 2012
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Questions About Teacher Evaluation Deal
National teachers union head Randi Weingarten heaped praise on the tentative deal that LAUSD and UTLA announced last week. LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy touted it as historic (see: “This Has Never Been Done”). But elsewhere across the nation, the initial word about the deal hasn’t been so unanimously glowing. Today’s LA Times story about the deal highlights some of these concerns,...
By Alexander Russo | December 10, 2012
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Next Steps to Finalize Teacher Deal
On Friday, LAUSD and UTLA finally came to tentative agreement on a new way to evaluate teachers, just days before the court-imposed December 4 deadline in Doe v. Deasy. The initial responses were generally positive, including from the plaintiffs. “Assuming that everyone behaves in good faith, I think we’ve achieved what we’ve set out to...
By Hillel Aron | December 3, 2012
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Mediator Named in Deadlock Over Teacher Evaluations
Mediator Don Raska has been appointed to try to help resolve the teacher evaluation negotiations between LAUSD and the teachers union (UTLA), according to a UTLA newsletter. The October 19th issue of the United Teacher states that, “the union continues to push back against LAUSD’s proposal to link a percentage of a teacher’s evaluation to...
By Samantha Oltman | October 23, 2012
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Zimmer Postpones Charter Proposal
LAUSD board member Steve Zimmer’s proposal to overhaul charter school oversight and, more controversially, to place a moratorium on new charter schools, has been postponed until the November 13 board meeting, according to the just-posted agenda for the meeting this Tuesday, October 9. Zimmer’s idea was first presented at last month’s board meeting, and generated heavy...
By Hillel Aron | October 4, 2012
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Zimmer Postpones His Teacher Evaluation Proposal
A number of parents and teachers showed up to today’s jam-packed school board meeting to denounce board member Steve Zimmer’s proposal to reject Academic Growth Over Time (or AGT) as a measurement of pupil progress in teacher evaluations. About six or seven of them wore t-shirts reading, “SHAME ON YOU ZIMMER.” They never got their chance...
By Hillel Aron | September 12, 2012