The Bedford Central School District is moving closer to implementing a new evaluation system for teachers and principals, with a preliminary plan in place.
The preliminary plan, adopted by the school board at its Sept. 7 meeting, is to the state's Annual Professional Performance Review (APPR) process. In a nutshell, the process involves evaluations of performance by conferring ratings of "highly effective," "effective," "developing" and "ineffective."
The basis for the ratings are drawn from a series of items and extensive data, including student test scores, student performance on local curricula, short visits by supervisors, planning, self-assessment, conferences with evaluators, a mid-year check-in and a final evaluation.
“This plan increases our capacity to collaboratively improve teaching and learning," said Andrew Patrick, assistant superintendent for curriculum & instruction, who gave the school board an update.
A grading rubric for the ratings has already been developed for teachers. For example, under a tentiative plan listed by the district but not finalized, a score of 52-60 corresponds to "highly effective" in the best case, and with a score of 9-18 corresponding to "ineffective" in the worst. A rubric scoring scale has not been devleoped yet for principals.
Employees deemed to be "ineffective" and "developing" will be subject to improvement plans. Although the details have not been worked out yet, they could include outlines what areas that need work, timelines for improvement and how to assess improvement.
For the 2011-12 school year, only teachers and principals from grades 4-8 in English Language Arts and Math are subject to the process, according to Patrick. For 2012-13, the requirements will be district wide, and also expand to include teaching specialists such as guidence counselors.
The evaluation process will take place throughout much of the school year, commencing on Oct. 1, with a final evaluation date for probationary teachers on March 22 and a June 1 date for tenured teachers.
To read the full preliminary plan, click here.
