Evaluation of Green Dot’s Locke Transformation Project: From the Perspective of Teachers and Administrators

In the fall of 2007, Alain Leroy Locke High School, historically one of California’s lowest performing secondary schools, underwent a transformation. Suffering from a history of extremely low academic performance, student unrest and even violence,Locke was transitioned into a set of smaller charter academies by the nonprofit charter organization Green Dot Public Schools in partnership with the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). With a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, CRESST was charged with monitoring the progress and effects of Green Dot Public Schools’ Locke transformation from 2007 to the present.

Previous annual reports have presented findings related to the academic performance of Green Dot Locke (GDL) students. The primary focus of this current report, is to use both quantitative (including teachers’ value-added data based on state test scores) and qualitative data (interviews with 13 teachers and four administrators across GDL academies) to explore potential teacher factors influencing students’ academic progress since the transformation, particularly focusing on teacher recruitment/selection, retention, and support.