New Teacher Evaluation System Must be Thoughtfully Implemented and Coupled With Adequate Support for Teachers

Now that a new – and necessary – teacher evaluation system for New York City has been put into place, the next step is implementing it in a way that builds trust, respects teachers, and leads to better schools and education for students. 

Many great teachers are feeling threatened by the changes to come – but the plan holds opportunities as well.  We believe these are some of the important practices that should be followed:

• Include content experts in observations
• Ask the strongest teachers to volunteer first for feedback from peers
• Limit the number of indicators assessed in each observation
• Use evaluation results to help target the right professional support for teachers

Teacher evaluation needs to foster the strongest possible teacher corps – and be built for growth, not just compliance or to focus solely on struggling teachers.  As Commissioner King said in his announcement of the plan, “New York is not going to fire its way to academic success. The key to this plan is the training, support and professional development that must be put in place to help teachers and principals improve their practice.”

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