Albany, N.Y.- New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced Thursday a deal has been reached on a new teacher evaluation system that he says will be a national model.
The agreement Thursday between the state and its largest teachers' union creates a statewide standard for evaluating teachers in districts outside of New York City.
The deal fulfills much of a commitment the state made two years ago to enact reforms. It also frees up nearly $1 billion in federal education money that was linked to the reforms.
Under the plan, teachers will be rated on two sections. Sixty percent will be based on teacher performance in the classroom. Forty percent would be based on student achievement, divided in half between state and local testing.
The New York State United Teachers union negotiated the deal with the state education department. A major sticking point had been the use of standardized test scores to evaluate teachers.
Here is the teacher grade scale:
Ineffective: 0 – 64
Developing: 65 – 74
Effective: 75 – 90
Highly Effective: 91 – 100
Interim Rochester Schools Superintendent Bolgen Vargas said, "A
t the end of the day it's how we implement this plan. Our aim is to implement the plan to improve teaching and learning and also help teachers be better teachers."
Teachers will be evaluated in the 2013-2014 school year.
