The Annual Professional Performance Review (APPR) plan was negotiated last year and approved by the board. School districts are required by state law to implement an evaluation system for teachers that combines state and local tests with classroom observations.
Every system must adhere to strict requirements regarding approved measures and how various components are weighted. The comprehensive Bronxville plan can be found here.
Bronxville Schools Superintendent David Quattrone said that the system is still in its infancy,, and without having completed a full year, its impossible to know how effective it is.
“We are at the early stages of this approach. We haven’t even gone through a complete cycle, so it’s difficult to know its impact and what we might want to change,” he said.
Quattrone said that the new methods of evaluation have put a burden on all schools and faculties that have needed to make changes to reach compliance.
“The challenges of implementation have been daunting. For example, the number of required teacher observations doubled this year, making it difficult to meet deadlines,” he added. “Anecdotally, principals report that with the new categories of effectiveness, their discussions with teachers have focused more on ratings and less on improvement strategies.”
This year, Quattrone added, the district made sure that the establishment of formal student learning objectives did not detract from teachers’ ability to innovate. The district will continue to adjust the system, utilizing different standardized test and methodologies.
“It’s not clear how the state model is helping a district that already has ample evidence that students are college ready,” he said. “As we move into next year, we will examine what’s going on around the state and identify opportunities to improve.”
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