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A00783 Memo:

NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY
MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION
submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
 
BILL NUMBER: A783
 
SPONSOR: Benedetto (MS)
  TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the education law, in relation to state assessments and teacher evaluations; and to amend chapter 56 of the laws of 2014, amend- ing the education law relating to providing that standardized test scores shall not be included on a student's permanent record, in relation to making certain provisions permanent   PURPOSE: This bill would amend the annual teacher and principal evaluation system to eliminate the mandatory use of state assessments to determine a teacher or principal's effectiveness.   SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS: Section 1 of the bill would establish a new subdivision 16 of section 3012-d of the Education Law to make the use of state-created or adminis- tered tests optional instead of mandatory. This includes all state- created or administered tests including the grades three through eight English language arts and mathematics state tests and the high school Regents examinations. Additionally, the Commissioner would be required to promulgate regulations for alternative assessments that may be used to determine a teacher or principal's evaluation in place of the state- created or administered tests. The selection and use of an assessment in a teacher or principal's evaluation must be subject to collective bargaining. Furthermore, this section allows school districts to keep their current APPR plans until a successor plan is negotiated and entered into, ensuring districts do not lose their state aid increases. Section 2 of the bill modifies subdivision 4 of section 3012-d of the Education Law to eliminate the use of the state-provided growth model in a teacher or principal's evaluation. All teachers would be required to have a student learning objective (SLO) consistent with a goal-setting process determined or developed by the Commissioner as the first subcom- ponent for the student performance category. Section 3 of the bill modifies subdivision 5 of section 3012-d of the Education Law to eliminate certain rules pertaining to state-created or administered tests used to determine a teacher or principal's overall rating. Section 4 of the bill modifies subdivision 7 of section 3012-d of the Education Law to eliminate certain rules pertaining to state-created or administered tests used to determine a teacher or principal's overall rating. Section 5 of the bill modifies subdivision 10 of section 3012-d of the Education Law to provide conforming language. Section 6 of the bill makes permanent provisions prohibiting state-ad- ministered grades 3 through 8 standardized English language arts or mathematics assessments scores to be included on a student's permanent record. Section 7 of the bill provides the effective date as immediately.   JUSTIFICATION: In 2015, New York State adopted a new annual teacher and principal eval- uation system that required the use of state-created or administered assessments as a subcomponent to determine a teacher or principal's effectiveness. This approach to evaluating teacher performance and student achievement has created many disparities and has not been widely accepted by teachers and parents, prompting families to opt out. This bill seeks to maintain the rigorous standards set for teacher and principal evaluations, while simultaneously addressing some of the concerns from parents and educators. Allowing school districts and teachers, who know their students best, the ability to negotiate whether they would like to use the standardized tests in teacher or principal evaluations will ensure that a more fair and effective evaluation system will be established. Furthermore, in order to ensure that schools are not negatively impacted as a result of their choice between retaining their current evaluation system and choosing a new one, this bill provides that school districts will not lose their state aid increases while a district is in the process of negotiating/entering into a successor collective bargaining plan.   LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: 2018: A.10475 (Nolan) Passed Assembly   FISCAL IMPLICATIONS: To be determined.   EFFECTIVE DATE: This bill will take effect immediately.
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