TeacherRatingsAired in NewYorkBy STEPHANIE
BANCHERO Feb 25, 2012 Wall St JournalThe release of a trove of data evaluating New
York City teachers on their ability to boost student test scores represents a
potentially powerful new tool for parents to assess their children's public
schools.
Ask former D.C. schools
Chancellor Michelle Rhee about teacher rankings and
education policy. Leave your questions.
Nationally, teachers unions have staunchly opposed
releasing such information, and even some supporters of linking teacher
evaluations to student-test scores worry the data could be misunderstood or
misused. If school districts across the U.S. were to begin taking similar
actions, it could add to pressure on school administrators to improve or to
remove their weakest teachers.In New York, the
nation's largest school system, the teachers' union opposed release of the data
on 18,000 public-school teachers. A state court ordered the release in response
to a public-records request by The Wall Street Journal and other news
organizations. It comes 18 months after the Los Angeles
Times published a database, calculated by the newspaper, of teacher rankings in
Los Angeles,
the nation's second-largest school district. Read complete
article at ……http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203918304577243591163104860.html?mod=ITP_pageone_0