***FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE*** Sunday, Mar. 8, 2015 Contact: Kerri Lyon 917 348 2191| klyon@skdknick.com NYC TEACHERS UNVEIL ALTERNATIVE PLAN TO IMPROVE

EVALUATIONS ~

Educators 4 Excellence-New York Plan Would Reduce Reliance on Standardized Tests Without Sacrificing Accountability

March 8, 2015 (New York, N.Y.) A group of New York City public school teachers today unveiled an alternative plan to improve the states beleaguered teacher evaluation system. Under the current structure, more than 95 percent of New York teachers received an effective or highly effective rating this year, prompting Governor Cuomo to propose increasing the weight of standardized tests in a teacher's review. Educators 4 Excellence-New York (E4E-New York) members, who strongly believe in the power of multi-measure evaluations to elevate their profession, would maintain accountability, create a balanced role for testing, and safeguard a principals role in future evaluations without having to rely so heavily on test scores. Under the Governors proposal, 50 percent of teachers annual ratings would be based on their students standardized test scores; 35 percent on outside evaluators; and 15 percent on principal observations. E4E-New York members would distinguish between teachers who have grade- and subject-specific tests or performance measures, and those who dont. For educators with assessments, such as most English and math teachers, E4E-New York proposes basing 35 percent of the evaluation on state test scores; 45 percent on principal observations; and 20 percent on peer evaluators. For teachers without standardized assessments, E4E-New York would set 45 percent of the evaluation on principal observations, 35 percent on peer evaluators, and 20 percent on student surveys. Quality evaluations are important to all professionals including teachers, who crave feedback on how to improve their craft, said Co-Founder and CEO of Educators 4 Excellence Evan Stone. But if we dont get this right this year, evaluations risk becoming the ARIS of teacher improvement strategies a highly trumpeted and expensive reform that doesnt help teachers improve their practice and as a result, ultimately fades into irrelevance.

Improving evaluation and support systems in partnership with teachers will serve as a gateway to the other critical steps we need to take to improve student success, Stone continued. Good evaluations can allow us to streamline the tenure process so that it is a meaningful career milestone, reward great teachers for performance, incentivize them to serve in our hardest to staff schools and provide them opportunities for career advancement. If we dont have a credible picture of how teachers are doing, it becomes much harder to achieve those other objectives. E4E-New York members called on Albany to tie these meaningful improvements to a significant increase in education aid to districts to ensure they can invest in schools, teachers, and students. Portions of that money should be used for the training administrators, additional observations, and development of student surveys necessary to improve the evaluation system. So far the debate in Albany has focused on what isnt working. But we want to talk about solutions we know will make us even better teachers, said Suraj Gopal, an E4E-New York member and a ninth grade STEM special education teacher at Hudson High School of Learning Technologies in Manhattan. This plan strikes the right balance. It would allow the great conversations that are already taking place between our principals and our peers to continue while maintaining the focus on accountability we know is necessary to push everyone to even greater success. Dozens of E4E-New York members have participated in policy teams to formulate recommendations on improving evaluations, tenure, Common Core and other key strategies. To learn more, visit http://ny.educators4excellence.org/stateoftheclassroom.

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For far too long, education policy has been created without a critical voice at the table the voice of classroom teachers. Educators 4 Excellence (E4E), a teacher-led organization, is changing this dynamic by placing the voices of teachers at the forefront of the conversations that shape our classrooms and careers. E4E has a quickly growing national network of educators united by our Declaration of Teachers Principles and Beliefs. E4E members can learn about education policy and research, network with like-minded peers and policymakers and take action by advocating for teacher-created policies that lift student achievement and the teaching profession. For more information, please visit www.educators4excellence.org.