The
San Diego Unified School District
will pay a statistical consultant $80,000 to design a plan which could shed light on how teachers influence a student's performance. KPBS Reporter Ana Tintocalis has more.
San Diego school board members have approved the $80,000 dollar contract.
The statistician will analyze individual student test scores, track their growth over the year. That information could be used to determine how their teachers affected their performance.
Superintendent Terry Grier hired the same consultants when he was in North Carolina. Their method resulted in a merit pay system which awarded certain teachers bonuses if test scores improved.
San Diego teachers union leaders say that practice pits teachers against one another -- and they fear Grier is laying the groundwork for that in San Diego Unified.
But school board member Shiela Jackson and Grier say the district won't use this information against the teachers.
Jackson: In the state of California, this cannot be used as a punitive measure for the teachers.
Grier:
That’s right, and it cannot be part of an evaluation.
Meanwhile, the school board moved forward with establishing a new way to screen prospective teachers for positions in the district. The method includes problem-solving scenarios meant to reveal core values of teachers.
Ana Tintocalis, KPBS News.
