Richard Iannuzzi, president of New York State United Teachers, said he stands firmly behind the law – including the Jan. 17 deadline set forth in it.

Teachers should be evaluated this year using the new plans, he said.

But Iannuzzi said that both state and local school officials failed to give teachers enough information about the national Common Core standards that were implemented statewide this year. As a result, he said, students will be tested at the end of the school year on material they might not have been taught. And student scores count for at least 20 percent of each teacher’s evaluation under the new law.

Because of that, the state should advise districts not to use this year’s teacher evaluations as part of employment decisions, he said.

“The state Ed Department should be giving guidance to school districts, saying they should be extremely cautious about how they use these [evaluations] at this point,” he said.

The full article is available online at BuffaloNews.com.

The secure data system provides confidential growth information for teachers of math and English Language Arts in grades 4- 8. Teachers will only be able to access their own information. SED notes that since the data in GRS is confidential, it is critical that teachers maintain security by not sharing login ID and/or passwords.

NYSUT has prepared a two-page “How to Understand Your Growth Score” fact sheet.

Additional resources including tutorials and a Growth Reporting System Help Desk are also available from SED.

Note: Teachers and principals employed by the New York City Department of Education will use a separate distribution process to access reports. Information about this process will be made available in the coming weeks.

Letter: Union: Don’t rush teacher evals

Originally published: September 21, 2012 7:04 PM
Updated: September 23, 2012 10:01 PM

Newsday‘s Sept. 21 editorial misses the mark so badly, it’s hard to know where to begin ["Get moving on evaluations"].

New York State United Teachers has worked collaboratively with the state Education Department to develop a comprehensive, rigorous and fair teacher-principal evaluation system. New York’s law embeds professional development and discards a subjective, “gotcha” system in favor of one that will improve overall teacher effectiveness and enhance student learning.

Since 2009, NYSUT has spearheaded a pilot project in which local unions, jointly with their superintendents, pioneered new approaches to evaluations; developed a highly regarded, free rubric that districts and unions may use to look at teachers’ classroom practice; and devoted thousands of hours of training and support to push the evaluation law forward.

Sure, there have been bumps along the way. This is complex, serious work undertaken at a time when resources for public schools are being slashed. Yet, teachers and school districts, especially on Long Island, have made a commitment to do this work right, and that takes time. While Newsday prefers artificial deadlines, penalties and rushing these evaluation systems into place, students will benefit far more if districts and unions thoughtfully design rigorous and fair evaluation systems that are appropriate for their communities.

This appropriateness includes the care that Long Island districts’ and local unions are taking to avoid an over-reliance on flawed tests, a main issue in the Chicago teachers strike. Newsday‘s editorial reached wrong conclusions about this strike.

Standardized testing and data have a place in education — and, yes, in evaluations — but we must ensure that good tests lead to better instruction and greater student learning, and are never solely used for high-stakes decisions. Chicago teachers, with the backing of a majority of parents and the public, stood proudly for that principle. Mayor Rahm Emanuel is just the latest to learn that students are more than test scores.

Richard C. Iannuzzi, Albany

Editor’s note: The writer is the president of the New York State United Teachers union.

Count the Hammond Central School District among that group, thanks to collaboration between district administrators and leaders of the Hammond Teachers Association. Congratulations!

Administrators and the leaders of Mt. Pleasant Cottage School Teachers Association reached an agreement on an evaluation process for teachers and principals.

Like the evaluations popping up in school districts throughout New York, the process in Mt. Pleasant Cottage is designed to ensure effective teaching and student success. Congratulations!

The Buffalo Teachers Federation thought it had a process that was good for students and fair to teachers, but SED rejected it because the state did not want to include student attendance as a factor in the evaluations.

Really?

In the end, the BTF — under the leadership of President Phil Rumore — succeeded in making sure student attendance is counted.

It was a tough fight but it was worth it.

In this case, it is the successful completion of an evaluation process for teachers and principals that’s good for students and fair to teachers.

Hats off to the leaders of the Massena Federation of Teachers and administrators of the Massena Central School District. Well done!

On behalf NYSUT and NYSSCA this document provides clarification on the application of the new teacher evaluation requirements to school counselors. This information is provided in response to questions from school counselors received by both organizations.

1. Are school counselors considered “classroom teachers” under the new Annual Professional Performance Review (APPR) law and regulations?

Pupil personnel service providers (school psychologists, school social workers and school counselors) are not covered by the new APPR requirements. Under the new law, classroom teachers must be evaluated. The regulations define a classroom teacher as a teacher in the classroom teaching services as defined in Section 80-1.1 of the Commissioners Regulations. Section 80-1.1 specifically excludes pupil personnel service providers from the definition of classroom teaching services.

2. Are school districts required to conduct annual professional performance reviews of pupil personnel service providers, including school counselors?

While school counselors are excluded from the new APPR requirements for classroom teachers, school districts must continue to conduct annual evaluations in accordance with the criteria described in the school districts or BOCES APPR plan, according to Section 100.2(o) of the Regulations. School districts/BOCES are not required to make any changes to the evaluation criteria for 2012-13 or thereafter.

3. School districts are required to include an approved teacher practice rubric in its APPR plan. Must this rubric be used for the evaluation of pupil personnel service providers?

School Districts must include a teacher practice rubric agreed to by the district and the local teachers union, in its APPR plan. This rubric is relevant to the evaluation of classroom teachers and not pupil personnel service providers. The new law does not require school districts to use a rubric to assess the evaluation criteria for school counselors.

4. Are school counselors required to include measures of student growth using a student learning objective process in their evaluations?

Only classroom teachers with none or less than fifty percent of their assigned students participating in the 4¬8 grade ELA and Math state assessment are required to have student learning objectives. School counselors and other pupil personnel service providers are not required to include any measures of student growth and/or achievement in their annual evaluation.

School counselors are encouraged to reach out to their local association regarding their annual professional evaluations. Local leaders should contact their Labor Relations Specialists for additional information on this topic. Additional information is also available on the NYSSCA’s website at www.NYSSCA.org or email APPR@NYSSCA.org or GovernmentRelations@NYSSCA.org. Be sure to check the NYSUT website, www.nysut.org, for updates on APPR.

It’s no surprise though: School districts across New York state have been getting it done for months now. And the common denominator? A commitment by administrators and union leaders to work together for the good of their students.

Hats off to the Chappaqua administration and leaders of the Chappaqua Congress of Teachers.