New Teacher Evaluation Plan Causing Confusion

A new state law regarding teacher evaluations is causing some confusion to local school boards which are having to adopt clarifications to the plan as amendments trickle down from Albany.

After approving the state-mandated teacher annual performance review plan in July, the South Huntington School Board adopted a redraft of the plan Wednesday.

School administrators from two school districts said they expect more changes in the coming months as new clarifications are issued.

"I wish I could tell you that this is the last time we are going to be asked to adopt this plan, but I don't believe that's the case," said South Huntington School Superintendent Thomas Shea, at a school board meeting Wednesday.

According to a New York Times report, the new law replaces the simple “satisfactory/unsatisfactory” scale that teachers have been judged against for decades with a four-tiered rating: ineffective, developing, effective or highly effective. The new law was initiated to help the state win a $700 million grant from the federal Race to the Top competition to help the state win a $700 million grant from the federal Race to the Top competition.

"At this point there are still many more questions than answers," said Huntington School Superintendent Jim Polansky last month.

Accordng to plan guidelines, a large portion of the review process would come from observation of teachers by administrators. But between July 7 and the current date, the state has come out with additional clarifications which are causing some confusion such as observation technique training for evaluators.

"We've only gotten some very basic information with no specifics," said Shea.

Also an issue, the process of cataloging differences in the current South Huntington evaluation system with the envisioned state system, according to Shea.

Another driving force behind the expected revisions to the evaluation plan is a recent lawsuit won in August by the New York State United Teachers against the Board of Regents in Albany. The decision nullifies changes to a recent Regents vote on teacher evaluations which would have required districts to base 40 percent of a teacher’s annual review on students’ scores on state standardized tests, according to Shea.

"The governor lobbied with the state board of regents to increse that rate from 20 percent to 40 pecent," said Shea."The state teachers association filed suit and won."

An appeal to the ruling is underway which could again cause ramifications at the local level.

"My sense is the increased information that we we are asked for between July and now does not include anything from he court case. We'll probably be bringing this back on a fairly regular basis," said Shea.

School board members have reacted negatively to the anticipiated modification process.

"We are going to have versions coming out of our ears," said South Huntington School Board Member Edward Nitkewicz.

The Huntington School Board adopted the plan in August amid some concerns.

"This is a complex process to say the least," said School Board President Emily Rogan, before voting in favor.

Click photos for PDF of Professional Performance Review Plan