A number of recent studies show that testing students is not a good way to evaluate the performance of their teachers.  According to an article in the New York Times earlier this week, an increasing number of school districts are adopting a system known as "value-added" modeling in order to compare one teacher to another and increase teacher accountability.

The article says that the system will calculate "the value teachers add to their students’ achievement, based on changes in test scores from year to year, and how the students perform compared with others in their grade."

The Vanguard wraps up its fourth and final interview with school board candidate, Tim Taylor.  Mr. Taylor is currently the board president, having first been elected back in 2005.  After five years on the board, Mr. Taylor told the Vanguard that he actually feels at this point in time like he knows what he is doing.  He said it takes a good year or two to figure out how the board and the district works.

"I do feel there is some logic to continuity, and continuing what I have learned instead of just moving aside," said Tim Taylor.

In the third interview with a school board candidate, the Vanguard sat down to talk to Gina Daleiden, the local Davis High Graduate who was first elected to the board back in 2005.  Given the challenges that lay ahead, Ms. Daleiden called this a critical time in our school district and said that she loves this school district and will work hard to keep the district on the right path despite the challenges.

"I'm running for re-election," she said, "because it's a critical time in our school district and this is the school district that I love and I don't mean that lightly.  When I say my heart is with this district and with these students I truly mean it from a very long time ago."