Meredith Bennett-SmithOn Friday, the city’s Department of Education released data reports for roughly 18,000 teachers at public schools, grades 4-8. SchoolBook, the Times’ and WNYC’s education site, has posted the most recent data, based on students’ gains on state math and English exams in the 2009-10 school year. The site also posted career scores based on several years of data.
Below you’ll find just some of SchoolBook’s information about the East Village, indicating the percentage of teachers in each school that received a ranking of “above average” or “high” from the city. Click on a school’s name to find detailed information about each teacher for whom data was released, including the teacher’s ranking (on a percentile scale of 0-99) compared to similar teachers (note that the margins of error here vary widely and are sometimes quite high), the scores his or her students were expected to receive based on their demographics and past test performances, the scores the students actually received, and a score known as “value added” that gauges the difference between what was expected and how students performed. You can also read the teacher’s response whenever available.
Originally requested by The Times and other media organizations in 2010, the numbers were made public after the union, citing flaws in methodology and privacy concerns, unsuccessfully sued the city to prevent their release (the Department of Education now says it didn’t want to name teachers). Their controversial publication has sparked an outcry among educators such as Cara Cibener, a teacher at Tompkins Square Middle School who told The Wall Street Journal that the rankings were “completely misleading.” Parents and educators: read the data and tell us what you think – are they a fair representation of the East Village’s schools and teachers?
