Yesterday, state Education Commissioner John King announced a truly innovative evaluation system clearly focused on improving how New York City’s 1.1 million students are taught and that gives teachers a sustained voice in the process.
This is a far cry from the current binary system that rates teachers as either satisfactory or unsatisfactory based on loose measures. With few pathways for improvement or advancement, large numbers of teachers have left the system after fewer than five years on the job.
This new system of feedback and support is a potential game changer for the teaching profession and our students. It approaches teaching like every other top-tier profession — providing educators with the tools to succeed, feedback to improve and clearly defined expectations.
Anyone with a stake in our schools should be excited about:
Flexible observations: Each teacher is guaranteed multiple observations using a thorough, well-tested standard and they have a choice of the quantity and style.
Video: Teachers can choose to use video to improve both the observation and the feedback.
Student surveys: These have proven to be one of the best measures of teacher performance. This is an exciting addition.
School-based control: Principals have the final say, as they should as school leaders, but a committee of teachers — half chosen by the union — have real input into what counts for 20 percent of a teacher’s evaluation.
We hope the city and the union get to work to make sure principals and teachers are thoroughly trained and are ready for the opportunity ahead. In the meantime, Commissioner King should be lauded for designing a thoughtful system with the potential to change teaching and learning in all of New York City’s public schools.
* Jonathan Schleifer is the executive director of Educators 4 Excellence-New York