Analysis Of New York Teacher Evaluation Proposal

You're probably thinking, "why would you dedicate an entire blog post about a state that I don't live in?" (Assuming you're reading this in the other 49 states, of course.) And that's a fair question, but after reading through this proposal, I do believe there are some lessons that other states should quickly embrace.

First off, regardless of what state in which you reside, you should know that the teacher evaluation process is an extremely-touchy issue. Though many lay-individuals think its an easy process--"be a boss and evaluate your employees," there's much more involved. District board of education policies. Negotiated agreements. Teacher unions/associations. State laws or statutes.

In short, the teacher evaluation process is not very pretty.

In recent years, a resurgence of modifying the existing teacher evaluation processes has taken flight. Likely the birthchild of No Child Left Behind and the accountability-movement, teacher evaluations are beginning to link student achievement to a teacher's formative/summative evaluation. Prior to this, teachers were generally observed by a building administrator 1-3 times each year...and that was about it.

Earlier today I had a chance to review a teacher evaluation policy proposal for the State of New York, created by Educators 4 Excellence Teacher Evaluation Policy Team. (You can view a copy by clicking the hyperlink provided.) Overall, I'm extremely-pleased with an initial glance.

According to the policy recommendations, teacher evaluations should include the following:

- Administrator observations;
- Independent outside observations (master observers; seasoned teachers);
- Student achievement data;
- Other local-district factors (professionalism/attendance, etc.)
- Student survey data; and
- Local community stakeholders' input.

Early in the policy brief, E4E boldly pushed for a teacher's evaluation to comprise of basically 45% observation. This bothered me because, as a practicing administrator, I know that an observation only captures so much of a teacher's overall effectiveness. But as I read further into the policy briefing, I was very happy to see recommendations pushing for inclusion of input from so many stakeholders. And how many teacher evaluation tools do you know that solicit student input? This is usually only done at the higher education level. Outstanding idea for the K-12 system!

I was disheartened to learn that the State of New York recently passed legislation that requires the teacher evaluation system to be modified by 2013, with immediate attention to student achievement data as an evaluation factor. While I have no qualms with including student achievement data, politically, I have a problem with a state government mandating this upon all its school districts. (I tend to favor local control.)

Lastly, this teacher evaluation proposal was brainstormed, drafted, and finalized by actual practicing teachers--not bureaucrats, policy makers, or think-tank organizations. 15 teachers representing various grade levels and subjects from throughout New York City were included in this process. What an awesome, authentic product that they should be very proud of!

Hopefully other states will follow suit...