How Do You Measure a Teacher’s Worth?

A New Evaluation Method Shows Promise in Rebuilding Trust Between Educators and Those Who Are Grading Them

Imagine one morning, coffee in hand, you head to the website of your local newspaper, type in your name, and up pops how you rank in relation to your colleagues at work. The ranking is based on some mysterious statistical model but the message is clear—you don’t measure up. Now imagine the sting of public humiliation when you run into your neighbors, colleagues, and family later that day.

This was the reality for Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) elementary school teachers in August 2010, when the Los Angeles Times …