***FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE***

Sunday, Mar. 8, 2015

Contact: Kerri Lyon
917 348 2191| klyon@skdknick.com

NYC TEACHERS UNVEIL ALTERNATIVE PLAN TO IMPROVE

EVALUATIONS
~

Educators 4 Excellence-New York Plan Would Reduce Reliance on

Standardized Tests Without Sacrificing Accountability
March 8, 2015 (New York, N.Y.) A group of New York City public school
teachers today unveiled an alternative plan to improve the states
beleaguered teacher evaluation system. Under the current structure, more
than 95 percent of New York teachers received an effective or highly
effective rating this year, prompting Governor Cuomo to propose increasing
the weight of standardized tests in a teacher's review. Educators 4 ExcellenceNew York (E4E-New York) members, who strongly believe in the power of
multi-measure evaluations to elevate their profession, would maintain
accountability, create a balanced role for testing, and safeguard a principals
role in future evaluations without having to rely so heavily on test scores.
Under the Governors proposal, 50 percent of teachers annual ratings would
be based on their students standardized test scores; 35 percent on outside
evaluators; and 15 percent on principal observations.
E4E-New York members would distinguish between teachers who have
grade- and subject-specific tests or performance measures, and those who
dont. For educators with assessments, such as most English and math
teachers, E4E-New York proposes basing 35 percent of the evaluation on state
test scores; 45 percent on principal observations; and 20 percent on peer
evaluators. For teachers without standardized assessments, E4E-New York
would set 45 percent of the evaluation on principal observations, 35 percent
on peer evaluators, and 20 percent on student surveys.
Quality evaluations are important to all professionals including teachers,
who crave feedback on how to improve their craft, said Co-Founder and
CEO of Educators 4 Excellence Evan Stone. But if we dont get this right
this year, evaluations risk becoming the ARIS of teacher improvement
strategies a highly trumpeted and expensive reform that doesnt help
teachers improve their practice and as a result, ultimately fades into
irrelevance.

Improving evaluation and support systems in partnership with teachers will

serve as a gateway to the other critical steps we need to take to improve
student success, Stone continued. Good evaluations can allow us to
streamline the tenure process so that it is a meaningful career milestone,
reward great teachers for performance, incentivize them to serve in our
hardest to staff schools and provide them opportunities for career
advancement. If we dont have a credible picture of how teachers are doing,
it becomes much harder to achieve those other objectives.
E4E-New York members called on Albany to tie these meaningful
improvements to a significant increase in education aid to districts to ensure
they can invest in schools, teachers, and students. Portions of that money
should be used for the training administrators, additional observations, and
development of student surveys necessary to improve the evaluation system.
So far the debate in Albany has focused on what isnt working. But we want to
talk about solutions we know will make us even better teachers, said
Suraj Gopal, an E4E-New York member and a ninth grade STEM special
education teacher at Hudson High School of Learning Technologies in
Manhattan. This plan strikes the right balance. It would allow the great
conversations that are already taking place between our principals and our
peers to continue while maintaining the focus on accountability we know is
necessary to push everyone to even greater success.
Dozens of E4E-New York members have participated in policy teams to
formulate recommendations on improving evaluations, tenure, Common Core
and other key strategies. To learn more, visit
http://ny.educators4excellence.org/stateoftheclassroom.
###
For far too long, education policy has been created without a critical voice at
the table the voice of classroom teachers.
Educators 4 Excellence (E4E), a teacher-led organization, is changing this
dynamic by placing the voices of teachers at the forefront of the conversations
that shape our classrooms and careers. E4E has a quickly growing national
network of educators united by our Declaration of Teachers Principles and
Beliefs. E4E members can learn about education policy and research, network
with like-minded peers and policymakers and take action by advocating for
teacher-created policies that lift student achievement and the teaching
profession.
For more information, please visit www.educators4excellence.org.