Rigoberto Ruelas, Jr. served as a dedicated teacher of low-income immigrants at Miramonte Elementary School in what was described as an “impoverished gang-ridden neighborhood” of Los Angeles for 14 years. He lived a few blocks from the school and had worked as an instructional aide there for four years before becoming a teacher. From the age of 22 to 39, much of his life revolved around the school.
On August 29, 2010, the Los Angeles Times published a database, with individual teachers’ names, of “value-added” ratings of 6,000 elementary school teachers. The controversial ratings come from how much individual students in the teachers’ classes increase in standardized test scores over the course of a school year. Ruela’s published rating suggested that his “overall value-added effectiveness” in comparison to other teachers in the district was “less effective.” He was rated in the “20th to 40th” percentile in “math effectiveness” and in the “40th to 60th percentile in “English effectiveness.”
Less than one month later, Ruelas was dead. Police determine he committed suicide by leaping from a cliff. Newspaper reports suggest that he was distraught over the L.A. Times ratings, and particular stressed about having to meet with parents and explain the situation to them.
All indications are that Ruelas was an outstanding teacher. According to a report after his death, he had nearly perfect attendance during his time as a teacher, and he was a “mentor to youth tempted to join gangs and a tireless booster that kids could make it to college.” Even on the value-added assessment measure, his performance was above the average performance of other teachers at the school since, overall, Miramonte was rated as a “least effective” school in value-added measures by the LA Times.
A recent report from ten of the most prominent educational researchers in the U.S., including the co-director of the National Center for Evaluation Standards and Student Testing, outlined many of the flaws in the value-added approach, which include great variability from year to year, lack of reliability due to nonrandom assignment of students in teachers’ clases, a narrow focus on only a subset of what is important to learn, and the complex matrix of educational and social factors that affect individual students’ performance. In spite of these flaws, many educators agree that value-added measurements should be part of the conversation in evaluating teachers. However, they need to be taken in context and complemented by a broad range of other factors.
All this brings us back to Rigoberto Ruelas. It’s natural to assume that there must have been other things going on in Mr. Ruelas’s life, that mentally stable people do not commit suicide over a subpar work evaluation. However, there were several very unusual things about this particular evaluation. It was not performed by his employer, but by an outside agency according to criteria that Ruelas was not informed about or judged on. Teachers in L.A. did not even have this information before it was published by the L.A. Times. And L.A. Unified had never communicated to teachers that this was a principal means of evaluating them. Even more importantly, this evaluation, which reduced a teacher’s entire career to a single dubious rating, was published by one of the most prominent newspapers in the world. I don’t think there is any precedent for having any employees publicly rated in this manner.
As a research professor at a major university, I have to carefully adhere to rules of ethics in carrying out research. One of those rules is anonymity–I am not allowed to publish people’ names without their permission if there is any way that my doing so can bring unnecessary or disproportionate embarrassment, humiliation, or other harm to them. If I wished to do a study of this type and publish teachers’ individual names with their ratings, my university never would have permitted me to do so.
There are of course differences between journalism and scholarly research, and journalists thus operate by different rules. And the rules that journalists operate by are not codified in the way that university research rules are. One would hope, however, that a respected news organization such as the L.A. Times would operate with at least a modicum of ethical concern, which was clearly violated by publishing individual names of teachers and thus bringing public shame and humiliation, without sufficient evidence that the rankings even accurately reflected teachers’ actual contributions.
Imagine, then, the situation of Rigoberto Ruelas. He lived a few blocks from the school and had experienced first hand the harsh conditions of life in the neighborhood. Perhaps he himself rose from difficult conditions and became a successful educator. He dedicated his entire life to improving the conditions of youth in his school and community. He almost never took a day off because he didn’t want to leave his students in the hands of a substitute. He spent time at lunch, after school, and weekends mentoring youth, doing whatever he could to keep them out of gangs. Even by the narrow measure of test scores, he was one of the better teachers in his school. For years he may have despaired over the directions of “reform” in L.A. schools and elsewhere, which, by focusing narrowly on test scores, made it increasingly difficult for him and other teachers to provide his students the kind of broad, rich learning experiences that would keep them engaged and successful in school year after year. But all the hardship was worth it to him, because, he had a strong self identity as a teacher, someone who gives his all for the children in his community. Then, one day, that identity is attacked, by a humiliating rating that ignores all his contributions. What’s worse, because it is public, he is forced to defend himself to parents and the community.
Nobody knows, of course, exactly what was going on in Rigoberto Ruelas’s mind in the weeks and days before his death. However, we do know that it is a terrible idea to publicly humiliate dedicated public servants based on inaccurate and incomplete value-added ratings. The L.A. Times should take the ratings down. That’s the least the newspaper can do to honor Ruelas’s memory.
Papyrus News 
I am deeply saddened by the loss, I was fortunate enough to have met Rigo. I was also able to witness Rigo’s dedication to education and helping others, always willing to help anyone in any way possible. I met Rigo my 3rd grade year at Miramonte, today I am a senior in college and in great part I thank Rigo. Growing up in South Central the idea of going to college seems out of reach, nevertheless Rigo made sure to inspire and push his students to pursue higher education. I can say that I certainly did not get the idea of going to college from a cereal box, it was from Rigo. It was also Rigo who periodically checked in to see my progress and to make sure I was on the right path, keep me motivated and help me in the process, and like myself there are many other students who benefited from Rigo’s dedication. It is sad to admit, but not even my parents showed as much interest in my education as Rigo did.
One thing we must keep in mind is that the development of learning begins at home, and teachers are not gods. What good does a carefully planned out and delivered lesson do, when it is not reinforced at home? For a lot of the students at Miramonte Elementary, English is their second language and/or come from only Spanish speaking homes, making it inevitable for them to score low when compared to other students who come from higher socioeconomic levels. Another well known factor about learning is that children learn at different rates and using different methods, when these two factors are taken into consideration along with socioeconomic factor, make teaching a very difficult job. Because I understand the different dynamics in the learning and knew Rigo, it angers me to hear and read negative comments of people who have no idea of what his struggles and accomplishments as a teacher where.
Rigo was an EXCELLLENT teacher, who always modeled and promoted exceptional prosocial and moral behavior. I can thank Rigo for teaching me that everything I put my heart into is possible, and that there is a whole different world outside South Central. Mr. Ruelas was present to see me graduate from high school and elementary, his presence will be missed at my graduation next spring. Teaching, was his life……
CG-
thanks so much for posting this beautiful letter. i am a 2nd grade teacher at miramonte elementary and have been teaching there for 8 years. it is very inspiring to hear former students of rigo tell how important he was in their lives. thank you for sharing. i hope you will be able to come to his memorial service tomorrow at 5:00 and the candlelight vigil afterwards. call the school if you need more details. i’m sure his family would love for you to share your thoughts.
dana sullivan
Thank you for your post. Rigo, a person I got to meet and share great memories, will be greatly missed.
Teachers, keep up the great work!
Dear Family, Teachers & Staff, Students & Friends,
I know Rigo was truly a committed and professional educator and mentor in the community and Miramonte Elementary. His smile and commitment to make a difference in kids’ lives brightened the world around him. I can recall Rigo’s genuine interest in his students from several conversations we had as committed & professional teachers.
I know that he aimed in impacting Youth in a positive and caring way.
Unfortunately, LAUSD’s policy and stardarized test focused curriculum really does overwhelmed many committed professionals in the educational field. The frustration of not being able to demonstrate a child’s progress and one’s own effectiveness can be devastating.
Despite it all, I see the Rigo had such an amazing impact in many lives. He will be in a better place, and will be kept in our hearts, as a caring and dedicated teacher.
I trust that we will continue working and making a difference in the world, to truly inspiring children and families.
Rigo…you touched and inspired many. Thank you for being that dedicated heart and role model for many.
Thanks for your post, Mark. Over at our blog, we’re horrified too by the death or Rigoberto Ruelas, and the L.A. Times’ utter lack of ethics or even journalistic standards. Their odious database was not journalism — it was a witch hunt. So much of what teachers do that is valuable cannot be measured by a student’s standardized test score. Such tests also fail to give an accurate measure of all that a student learns in school. Too many of the ed reformers, in their rabid “data-driven” madness, think that teaching and kids can be reduced to data points. Shame on the LA Times for being a party to this. As I wrote on my post about Rigoberto, the LA Times may well have blood on its hands/pages.
This teacher-bashing frenzy has got to stop.
Sue Peters
Seattle Education 2010
[…] times Papyrus News: Honoring Rigoberto Ruelas Reply With […]
It is quite unfortunate that the LA Times failed the damages done to Mr. Ruelas! I knew Mr. Ruelas when he was a teachers assistant for a friend of mine, who passed away ten years ago. She was an excellent mentor and all of us teachers and staff were extremely proud of Mr. Ruelas. He obviously has made an impact on generation of students lives!
Mr. Ruelas should have been sainted not castigated.
MR. RUELAS WAS A GREAT TEACHER. HE WAS MY 5TH GRADE TEACHER BACK IN 2005, IVE KNOW MR RUELAS FOR MORE THEN 19 YEARS AND I WOULD ALWAYS CHAT WITH HIM EVEN THOUGH HE WASNT MY TEACHER ANYMORE. I REMEMBER THE GOOD TIMES I HAD WITH HIM WHILE I WAS HIS STUDENT. HE TOOK US HIKING, TO THE BEACH, MANY FIELD TRIPS AND EVEN TOOK US TO A SHAKEY’S TO EAT PIZZA. I ALSO REMEMBER WHEN WE WOULD BRING A HEALTHY-SNACK TO HIS CLASS AND EAT IT THERE. WHILE OTHER STUDENTS WOULD BE WORKING IN CLASS BORED, MR. RUELAS WOULD TAKE US OUTSIDE AND PLAY AND HE EVEN THOUGHT US HOW TO PLAY THE FRISBEE WHICH WOULD BE A DAILY THING. HALLOWEEN 2005 HE WAS APCENT TO CLASS, BUT LATER THAT DAY HE SCARED THE WHOLE CLASS ROOM WITH A SCARY COSTUME HE HAD. HE SHOULD US DIFFERNT TYPES OF CARTOON VIDEOS ON BULLYS/ GANGS AND DRUGS. I CAN SAY THAT MR RUELAS WAS THE BEST TEACHER I ALWAYS HAD AND HE WILL BE MISSED BY ME AND ALL THE STUDENTS HE HAD DURING ALL THOSE YEARS.
REST IN PEACE RIGOBERTO RUELAS
Mr.Ruelas was a great teacher that i had back then in 5th grade, class of 2005. He would always tell us “do your work”, “try harder to reach your goal”. He was one of my teachers I admired in elementry.I rember he took us to clear creek and at night since i take medicine he would say, “Leonel come I have to give your medicine”, he would have water ready and my medicine ready. I also rember that he took us to the beach for a fildtrip and he said, “even though your small I know you could swim and reach any goal in life it really dosent matter how tall you are”. He would never be forgotten and his memories will not be forgotten.
Desafortunadamente yo no conosi a sr. Ruelas personalmente pero por mucho tiempo he oido muy buenas cosas de su persona y cuando una persona hase lo que el hiso ayudando a todos esos estudiantes Ademas el era una muy buena persona que posiblemente se dejo influencair por todos esos problemas personales ; bueno le deseo que este donde se lo meresca no hay duda que en el cielo ensenando angelitos a leer y escribir att.
Chuy Varela
I would like to honor Mr. Ruelas’ life by telling his story in a segment of my documentary, “Hear Our Teachers.” The frustrations of Mr. Ruelas and millions of teachers like him cannot continue to go unnoticed. Teachers must be heard, and the public must be aware of the barriers that are placed in front of us on a daily basis. Until we give teachers a voice, our schools will continue to spiral downward, and great teachers will continue to leave the profession, sometimes in a very tragic way.
If you knew Mr. Ruelas, or have a story of your own to tell, please contact me! laurie@hearourteachers.org. Don’t let his death be in vain.