School districts and BOCES implemented a new evaluation system (“annual professional performance review” or APPR) for both teachers and administrators during the 2011-2012 school year. The evaluations will be conducted annually, and will be used for a number of things, from developing more effective professional development programs for teachers to decisions about promotion, retention and removal.
Process linked to New York’s Race to the Top application
This is the first time that teachers and administrators will be evaluated based on their students’ test scores, an issue that has been controversial in the field of public education in New York and across the country. Additionally, there are portions of the teacher evaluation process that are subject to collective-bargaining negotiations.
Creating a statewide evaluation system linked to student performance was mandated by a law (Education Law section 3012-c) passed as part of New York’s successful Race to the Top (RTTT) application.
This is one of a number of statewide initiatives to improve student performance and assure that all students graduate from high school both college and career ready. Other initiatives include New York’s participation in the Common Core Standards, adoption of new teaching standards, and application of leadership standards for principals.
Evaluation to determine employment status, compensation, training
APPR will be a significant factor in employment decisions such as promotion, retention, tenure determination, termination, and supplemental compensation, as well as a significant factor in teacher and principal professional development.
Based on a 100-point scoring system, teachers and administrators will fall into one of four categories: highly effective, effective, developing and ineffective. Scoring will include multiple measures of performance, including observations, student achievement on state exams and other state-dictated measures.
Tenured teachers and principals with a pattern of ineffective teaching or performance – defined by law as two consecutive annual “ineffective” ratings – may be charged with incompetence and considered for termination through an expedited hearing process.
School districts in Rensselaer, Columbia and Greene counties are working with Questar III BOCES on a regional approach to implementing APPR and other RTTT initiatives. This not only helps districts share the cost, but it also allows us to share best practices.
For more information on Teacher / Leader Effectiveness, please visit http://engageny.org/effective-practice or contact our School Improvement Office at 518-477-8771.