Syosset Principals Say APPR Needs More Time

"We want to insure the success of our kids, but how do you assign someone a number," asked principal James Kassenbaum.

Requiring teacher evaluations to be based greatly on students' standardized test scores is no good, at least not now, according to 368 Long Island school principals.  In an open letter regarding New York State's APPR legislation, eight Syosset principals joined others from across the island to address concerns over the legislation's unknowns.

"There's nothing about this [letter] that says we don't believe in an evaluation system...But the speed that this came down from the state, like an express train...It's a system which has not been tested and it ignores research about testing scores," said Kassenbaum.

The legislation, which requires 20 percent of a teacher's evaluation to be based on students' standardized test scores, went into effect in September. For the 2011-12 school year, teachers of ELA and math in grades three through eight and the principals of those schools are evaluated using the rubric. By the 2012-13 school year, all teachers and principals will be evaluated using the new system.

"The whole thing has moved too fast…it needed to be piloted and done right," said Jeff Rozran, president of the .

Although the APPR Legislation's theory of a common statewide evaluation system is supported, more research and perfection of the process is needed. Otherwise, teachers can be incorrectly evaluated, according to Rozran.

"It would be very sad to identify good teachers as bad ones and bad teachers as good ones."

Although reviews by administrators account for 60 percent of the evaluations, all principals and administrators will be taught by the state on how to conduct evaluations. Unsatisfactory marks can result in loss of tenure or promotion and eventual termination.

"One suggestion we made is a rating band," said Kassenbaum. Using terms like "highly effective," "effective," or "poor" acknowledges both the quality of work and the abilities of the professional.

"Teachers grow...Someone who is 'effective' can also be developing."