New Teacher Evaluation Information for PLA Schools

The school district in collaboration with the Syracuse Teachers Association (STA) has reached an agreement on a new teacher evaluation system. The new evaluations will be implemented in all 7 PLA Schools for the 2011-12 school year. The intent of the agreement is to facilitate the improvement of instructional practices; support teacher development; and promote learner-centered schools.

A PowerPoint presentation detailing the evaluation process for teachers in the PLA schools is available here. A FAQ section is located below with many of the questions already fielded.

If you have additional questions please send them to APPRFAQ@scsd.us

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Who will be evaluated with the Danielson rubric for the 2011-2012 school year?

Classroom teachers/teachers of record, school library media specialists and career and technical teachers are evaluated utilizing the Danielson rubric on TEACHSCAPE. All other practitioners, including social workers, guidance counselors, teachers of the visually impaired, instructional coaches, etc., will be evaluated with the current Model for Practitioner Evaluation for the 2011-2012 school year.

2. If I am retiring at the end of the 2011-2012 school year must I be evaluated?

No.

3. What if I refuse to attend training for the new evaluation system?

You will still be evaluated using the Danielson Rubric/TEACHSCAPE.

4. Who can serve as a certified evaluator?

To be certified as an evaluator, the individual must go through 20-30 hours of training on the Danielson rubric and TEACHSCAPE system. After training is complete, potential evaluators must pass a rigorous test. Once they pass the test, they must be certified by the Superintendent before they can conduct evaluations. No individual will evaluate teachers until certified by the Superintendent.

5. Can I choose the alternative evaluation option now that I have seen what the new APPR looks like?

No. To be evaluated using the alternative evaluation, you must have chosen that option at the beginning of the year.

6. What if I chose alternative evaluation option but now do not want to exercise that option?

You may choose to opt out of the alternative evaluation.

7. How will ESL teachers be evaluated?

Unless you are the teacher of record, you are considered a non 4-8 ELA or Math teacher and will be evaluated as such.

8. I am a middle school teacher. How will I be evaluated if some of the courses I teach are tested areas and some are not (e.g. three ELA courses and two Social Studies classes)?

If 50% or more of your students are 4 - 8 ELA or Math then you will be evaluated as a 4-8 ELA and Math teacher.

9. I am an elementary self-contained special education teacher with students in grades 2-5 in my class. How will I be evaluated?

If 50% or more of your students are 4 - 8 ELA or Math then you will be evaluated as a 4-8 ELA and Math teacher.

10. If you are an ELL teacher, which measure will the state use for your evaluation, the ELA scores or the scores your students receive on the NYSESLAT?

This depends on how you schedule students and how they are linked to your Student Management System (teacher of record). The state will issue further guidance on ELL students once new regulations are passed.

11. If we have already been observed during the 2011-2012 school year, must we be observed using the new system?

Yes. You must be observed two times using the Danielson rubric if you are a classroom teacher, school library media specialist or career and technical teacher.

12. Individual Professional Growth Plans (IPGPs) have already been written for this year. Will those be rewritten?

Yes. The new IPGPs must be rewritten to align with the Danielson rubric.

13. If I am not a classroom teacher/teacher of record, a school library media specialist or career and technical teacher and I am evaluated using the Model for Practitioner Evaluation, do I need two observations?

No. If you are a tenured teacher, you are only required to have one observation and one evaluation. We are not mixing the Danielson framework with the MPE model.

14. Are summer test scores included when calculating school-wide targets for the Regents?

No. Only January and June Regents test scores will be used.

15. What criteria do we use to determine which students will be promoted from 9th to 10th grade and 10th to 11th grade?

That determination will be made based upon our promotional policy.

16. When do we find out our rating?

You will be told what your rating is in June. However, that rating could change based upon updated state assessment data.

17. Will these ratings be available to the local media?

The District will not willingly release teacher ratings.

18. Do these ratings follow teachers if they move to other school districts?

Districts will be required to submit teachers’ overall scores to the NYSED on an annual basis. The state will store this information so that ratings will be available.

19. How will the District use the Effective and Highly Effective ratings in the future?

In the future, your overall scores could be used for career ladder purposes (i.e. selection of instructional coaches, master teachers, etc.)

20. When is the summer training scheduled?

There will be four weeks of training offered in the summer. We are finalizing the schedule and will release it upon completion.