Teacher evaluation system and new appeals process

On Feb. 16 the UFT reached an agreement in Albany on an appeals process for teacher ratings that includes third-party, independent validation. It was part of a larger agreement involving the governor, the State Education Department and NYSUT that clarified the statewide framework for new evaluation systems. We do not have a systemwide evaluation agreement in New York City, but the new appeals process will be part of a new evaluation system when we do finish negotiating it. The following Q & A was prepared to help teachers sort through all the pieces involved in the agreement and understand how they do and don’t affect them.

I saw UFT President Michael Mulgrew and Governor Cuomo on Thursday announcing a teacher evaluation system and a new appeals process for teacher ratings. Does this mean that we have a new teacher evaluation system in place in New York City?

No, we do not. The current teacher evaluation system (S or U) remains in effect until we have negotiated all the remaining details of the new system. Thursday’s agreement on a new appeals process removed a key stumbling block in negotiations, but the DOE and the UFT must still negotiate an overall teacher evaluation agreement.

When does the new teacher evaluation system take effect then?

The governor set a Jan. 17, 2013 deadline for local school districts to implement an evaluation system or risk losing their share of the 4 percent increase in state education aid. But there is no guarantee that the DOE and the UFT will arrive at an agreement on the overall system by then. We stand ready and willing to do the hard work of negotiating.

How does this new appeals process improve upon what teachers currently have?

In the current process, all U ratings are appealed to a hearing officer who is a DOE employee. Under Bloomberg, virtually no ratings were overturned, regardless of the merits of the case, including cases where courts overturned U ratings after finding they were not warranted or deserved. If we ever get to an overall agreement, the new appeals process will be much fairer. For the first time, we have an independent panel to review teacher ratings that the union suspects are based on principal harassment. The union can identify up to 13 percent of all ineffective ratings each year to challenge on grounds of harassment or other matters not related to job performance. All teachers who receive an ineffective rating will have the benefit of an independent validator the following year who will act as a check on the principal’s rating. This person will see the member teach and observe them at least three times. That’s much better than presenting evidence in a hearing. This is the impartial evaluation we have been seeking.

Does the new appeals process for teacher ratings take effect immediately? If a teacher receives a U rating this June, what appeals process can the teacher use?

The appeals process will not go into effect unless and until the DOE negotiates agreements with the UFT for an overall teacher evaluation deal. Teachers who receive a U rating this school year will use the current appeals process.

What will happen to the 33 “persistently lowest achieving” schools that the mayor announced in January he would close because the city and the union could not agree on an appeals process?

We still have no agreement on those 33 schools. Even though we have removed the sticking point that he pinpointed as the reason for closing and reopening these schools, the mayor now says that he is moving forward with the closings regardless. As long as Bloomberg insists on a strategy of destroying schools and attacking teachers, we are going to have a hard time coming to an overall teacher evaluation agreement.

I read that there was a new statewide teacher evaluation deal. How does that affect New York City?

NYSUT and state leaders settled the disputed details of the statewide evaluation system. That deal clarifies and strengthens the 2010 evaluation law by clearly limiting the weight of the state’s growth model based on its tests and reinforcing collective bargaining as the vehicle for shaping evaluations to meet local needs. A full 80 percent of the evaluation system must be negotiated in each locality. Now with this explicit guidance about how to proceed, localities should be able to move ahead with implementation.

How did the use of state tests change as a result of the resolution of the disputed details of the statewide system?

The state wanted locals to allow local districts to simply double the state growth score for the full 40 percent of the student growth measure. The resolution eliminates that option and gives locals a broad range of choices, including creating their own assessments or using other measures of student achievement. If locals still want to use state tests, it would have to be in a way that is different than the state model.

What do I need to know about the principles underlying this teacher evaluation system?

The new evaluation system is designed first and foremost to help teachers get better throughout their careers. It applies targeted support for those who are struggling. Each teacher rated ineffective will have a teacher improvement plan designed to pinpoint weaknesses and help the teacher address them. And it identifies teachers who cannot be effective to do the tough job of teaching in New York City.