How teachers can comment

Later this month, The Times will post on its website a database with ratings for more than 6,000 elementary school teachers in the Los Angeles Unified School District, showing their effectiveness in the classroom as estimated by a “value-added” analysis of student test scores.

If you taught in Grades 3, 4 or 5 in L.A. Unified at some point during school years 2002-03 through 2008-09, and had at least 60 students total during that period, you may be in the database. We’d like to give you an opportunity to comment on your rating.

Teachers can see if they are in the database and send a comment.

Comments should be submitted by noon on Monday, Aug. 23, to be included in the database before it is published. Comments received after that date will be added to the database after it has been posted at latimes.com.

School districts that use value-added analysis to assess teachers’ performance typically do not release the information on individual instructors.

The Times is publishing its ratings because they bear on the performance of public employees who provide an important public service, and in the belief that parents and the public have a right to the information.