District News

New teacher and principal evaluation system takes effect in 2011

 

August 2011

 

During the week of Aug. 15, about 12 representatives from the Canajoharie Central School District plan to attend a training workshop at HFM BOCES on the new state-mandated evaluation system, the Annual Professional Performance Review (APPR).
The group includes the three district principals, Stacy Ward (elementary) David Barnes (high school), and Thomas Sincavage (middle school).

Starting with the 2011-12 school year, New York State law requires teachers of English language arts and math in grades 4-8 and their building principals to adhere to a new evaluation system intended to improve teacher performance and accountability. The system is designed to measure teacher and principal effectiveness based on performance and ranks them with a point value on a scale of 1 to 100.

The APPR results would play a large role in deciding promotions, tenure, terminations, retention, and supplemental compensations. It would also help determine if teachers and principals need professional development (think coaching and support).

 “I’m really looking forward to implementing this. The focus is having the strongest teaching and learning possible,” Ms. Ward said. “We already have very dedicated teachers at East Hill and I think this law will just help them become even better teachers, which will ultimately help our students.”

The APPR criteria were a condition to the state receiving $696 million in federal Race to the Top money last year. Under the new law, New York State plans to annually evaluate teacher and principal effectiveness by using four rating categories: highly effective, effective, developing, and ineffective.

Teacher and principal evaluations will be based on three components: assessments of teacher professionalism (up to 60 points); student growth measured by state tests (up to 20 points); and student growth judged on a local level (up to 20 points). For teachers, the evaluations will include multiple classroom observations, and for principals, the evaluations must be comprised of one or more school visits by a supervisor.

Seven teachers at East Hill Elementary, 10 from the junior high school, and the two building principals will be affected by the law in the upcoming school year. For the 2012-13 school year, all classroom teachers and building principals will be subject to the new system.

Focusing on student success

For much of the summer, district leaders in Canajoharie have been hurrying to work out the details of putting the system into effect.

A Network Team hired by HFM BOCES is currently training in Albany and developing an evaluation system that can be applied by all 15 component school districts. The networking team will then train local inquiry teams headed by building principals and staffed by teachers. Their goal is then to analyze student test scores and work on professional development.

“I think that the evaluation system’s parameters have been defined by the law and flushed out by NYSED. The Network Team will explain it all to us and it is a district decision how we want to proceed,” Ms. Ward said.

On August 4, the New York State Education Department posted a list of approved student assessments that school districts and BOCES can use in teacher and principal evaluations on its website.

Ms. Ward said she’s waiting to attend the training to find out more so the district can decide on which assessment it will use.

“We’re waiting to see what we hear,” she said. “Obviously, we’re going to choose an option which works best for our teachers and students.”

Although some teachers may feel apprehensive about the new system, Mr. Sincavage said children will benefit in terms of receiving a “great education.”

“We’re going to use the data as a tool to make stronger teachers,” he said.

“The system is going to hold everyone accountable, but we’re going to work together here in Canajoharie and it will never be used as a threat.”

For more details on APPR, click here.