Questions That Need Answers

Parent and Community Voice?

How will parent and community input be considered in developing and evaluating this system at the state and local level? Will parents and students be able to contribute to their teachers and principals evaluations? Will teachers and principals be evaluated, in part, on their ability to work with parents and communities?

How Will This Affect English Language Learners (ELLs) and Students with Disabilities?
These students often learn at different rates than other students. Standardized tests are not always the best measures of what they know and learn. Also, because these students need to learn specific skills different from those of the general education population, measuring what they learn is different. ELLs are learning English skills, and students with disabilities are learning according to their Individualized Education Programs. For example, a student with a disability may be working on social skills or learning how to use a computer program to assist learning. There are also not enough teachers for these students, so a new evaluation system has to create incentives, rather than disincentives, for teachers to work with them. The new system needs to account for the unique attributes of these student populations to make sure teachers who work with these students are fairly evaluated.

WHAT MAKES A GOOD TEACHER OR PRINCIPAL?

Make Your Voice Heard!
New York is changing the way it evaluates teachers and principals. Starting in the 2011-12 school year, our state plans to put a new evaluation system in place. This system will affect how teachers and principals are:
Fired Promoted Paid Trained Given

Tenure

More Reliance on Tests?

How many more tests will students be required to take so their teachers can be rated? How can we be sure teachers will be rated on their students growth in a manner that is fair and accounts for differences between students? What will happen with teachers who teach subjects, such as the arts or physics, that do not now require students to take standardized tests?

It will affect who teaches your children, and could impact how your children are taught.

Timeline for New Evaluation System

State passed law requiring new evaluation system for teachers May 2010 - and principals. State Board of ReJune 2011 gents approved framework for a new system and issued regulations for local districts.

English Language Learners (ELLs) and Students with Disabilities?

How Can You Get Involved?

While the negotiations are continuously taking place between the unions, school districts and the state education department, there is still a need for parents and communities to make their opinions known. To learn about how to make your voice heard, contact Rigel Massaro: 212-822-9575 or rmassaro@advocatesforchildren.org. Revised July 15, 2011

Starting in July 2011 for 20112012 School Year

Will the state and city create ways to evaluate these teachers based on their students unique learning needs and objectives?

Teachers and principals of grades 4-8 ELA and Math are scheduled to be evaluated under the new system. (This step may be delayed until districts reach agreement with the teachers union and pending litigation is resolved.)

2012-2013 All teachers and principals are School scheduled to be evaluated under the new system. Year
Advocates for Children of New York 151 West 30th Street, 5th Floor New York, NY 10001 Phone: (212) 947-9779 Fax: (212) 947-9790 www.advocatesforchildren.org

Training and Supports?

How will these evaluations help develop better teachers and principals? How will evaluators be trained?

What We Know About How Teachers and Principals Will Be Measured

STATE Measures of Student Outcomes
20% now but going up to 25% later
The state is requiring school districts to use student performance on state standardized tests to measure a teachers performance. The state is currently developing a system to identify how individual students should be expected to score on exams, given a number of characteristics, including past test scores, English Language Learner or student with disability status, and poverty. Teachers will be measured based on the difference between how a student actually scores, and how he or she was expected to score on state exams.

LOCAL Measures of Teacher Effectiveness

60%
Each school district will have to create a plan to measure how teachers prepare, plan and conduct lessons; how teachers develop their own skills; and how they create a learning environment for students. Following guidance from the state, each school district will have to select ways to measure these skills, which may include:

Pros:
State tests are easy to measure because they

LOCAL Measures of Student Outcomes

20% now but going down to 15% later
Each school district will come up with ways to measure student progress and use these measures to assess teachers. The state has suggested that these measures of student achievement could include:

Watching teachers in the classroom; Reviewing lesson plans and student work; Surveying parents and students; or Asking teachers to evaluate themselves.

are based on numbers and because most students take them. Once a system is created, it is a quick way to measure teachers.

Cons:
More reliance on state tests can lead to more

teaching to the test and the development of more tests. Many factors explain how a student performs on standardized tests, and it is difficult, if not impossible, to determine with any precision how a teacher affects a students exam score. Because teachers are compared to each other, it can lead to competition rather than cooperation between teachers. The state tests have been criticized for a number of problems. If there are problems with the tests, these problems will taint the teachers and principals ratings.

Measuring how students progress on assessments given in the classroom that are created by teachers or by the school district; Reviewing student portfolios (a gathering of student work throughout the year to see how they improve on skills); Using information from the statewide standardized tests.