The Paragon - NWET&D - Teacher Assessment

League tables that measure teachers individually are gaining popularity in the US, but their impact can be catastrophic. One such project resulted in a practitioner taking his own life after a poor rating
One autumn morning, Rigoberto Ruelas didn’t turn up for work. His colleagues at Miramonte Elementary School in Los Angeles were worried; in the 14 years he had taught at the school, he had seldom taken a day off.
Several days later, a police search-and-rescue team taking part in a training exercise in the Angeles National Forest spotted the 39-year-old’s abandoned vehicle. In a nearby ravine, they found his body lying 100 feet below a bridge. The Los Angeles county coroner later ruled that he had taken his own life.
Despite working in a tough, gang-ridden part of LA, Ruelas adored his job. He would tutor his pupils at weekends, and pushed them to aim high and go to college. Speaking after Rigoberto’s funeral, his brother Jose told journalists: “I want him to be remembered as a person that loved his career, he had a passion for his career. He loved the children and that’s why he taught.”
But according to the Los Angeles Times, he was one of the “least effective” maths teachers in the city. Days before Ruelas’ death in September 2010, the newspaper had entered uncharted territory. In the UK, school league tables have - for better or worse - become accepted as part of our education system. But the Los Angeles Times took things to a new level: it published individual ratings for each of the city’s 6,000 elementary school teachers. It used the value-added measure, comparing individual pupils’ progress in test scores to evaluate what effect their teachers had on their learning.