"My students would be tested on Mendelian genetics when we're just getting to how chromosomes separate," said Joseph Rowland, who taught science at Roosevelt High School for 22 years before moving to Franklin High this year. "It's ridiculous."
Rowland once found that his class' data had been combined with that of another teacher, rendering it pointless as a guide to future instruction. Like other teachers interviewed, he also complained about never getting data back or getting it late, though the current process is for teachers to go online and retrieve the data themselves.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Wednesday, February 04, 2009 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 3 inches; 104 words Type of Material: Correction
LAUSD testing: An article in the Jan. 28 California section about a teachers union call for a boycott of district-mandated testing overstated the correlation between improvements in test scores and increased use of periodic assessments. The article said the association was strong last year in 10th-grade English and moderate in Algebra I for high schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District. The article should have said that, based on the Times analysis, the association was moderate in English and weak in algebra. The district's own subsequent research shows what L.A. Unified regards as a strong association between the assessments and higher test scores.
Manual Arts High School English teacher Travis Miller said two rounds of his own class assessments did not count last year. Once, his tests weren't picked up on time, and once, he didn't receive all materials until the period for submitting them had closed.
Miller also knows teachers who simply refuse to give the assessments. Manual Arts' official participation rate last year was 61% in English and 14% in math.
Emerson's record on giving assessments is relatively strong, despite its prominence at the center of Tuesday's protest.
On state tests, Emerson ranks a little below average overall but well above average when compared with schools that serve a similar student population.
"This school is full of creative people and they need to have their hands untied to shine," said UCLA professor Allen F. Roberts, the parent of an Emerson 8th-grader.
The district puts the cost of the assessments at $3 million to $5 million per year. The teachers' union offers a so-far unsubstantiated figure of $150 million -- based on its interpretation of indirect costs, such as the related use of math and reading coaches to assist teachers.
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howard.blume@latimes.com
Times staff writer Doug Smith provided data analysis.
