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.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
S. 1262 A. 783
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
SENATE - ASSEMBLY
January 11, 2019
___________
IN SENATE -- Introduced by Sens. MAYER, LIU, ADDABBO, BAILEY, BENJAMIN,
BIAGGI, BRESLIN, BROOKS, CARLUCCI, COMRIE, GAUGHRAN, GIANARIS,
GOUNARDES, HARCKHAM, HOYLMAN, JACKSON, KAMINSKY, KAPLAN, KAVANAGH,
KENNEDY, KRUEGER, MARTINEZ, MAY, METZGER, MONTGOMERY, MYRIE, PARKER,
PERSAUD, RAMOS, RIVERA, SALAZAR, SANDERS, SAVINO, SEPULVEDA, SERRANO,
SKOUFIS, STAVISKY, STEWART-COUSINS, THOMAS -- read twice and ordered
printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Educa-
tion
IN ASSEMBLY -- Introduced by M. of A. BENEDETTO, HEASTIE, NOLAN,
PEOPLES-STOKES, JAFFEE, WEINSTEIN, ABBATE, ABINANTI, ARROYO, AUBRY,
BARNWELL, BARRETT, BARRON, BICHOTTE, BLAKE, BRAUNSTEIN, BRONSON,
BURKE, CAHILL, CARROLL, COLTON, COOK, CRUZ, CUSICK, CYMBROWITZ,
D'URSO, DE LA ROSA, DenDEKKER, DICKENS, DILAN, DINOWITZ, ENGLEBRIGHT,
EPSTEIN, FAHY, FALL, FERNANDEZ, FRONTUS, GALEF, GLICK, GOTTFRIED,
GRIFFIN, GUNTHER, HEVESI, HUNTER, HYNDMAN, JACOBSON, JEAN-PIERRE,
JONES, JOYNER, KIM, LAVINE, LENTOL, LIFTON, LUPARDO, MAGNARELLI, McDO-
NALD, McMAHON, M. G. MILLER, MOSLEY, NIOU, O'DONNELL, ORTIZ, OTIS,
PERRY, PHEFFER AMATO, PICHARDO, PRETLOW, RAMOS, REYES, RICHARDSON,
RIVERA, ROMEO, D. ROSENTHAL, L. ROSENTHAL, RYAN, SANTABARBARA, SAYEGH,
SCHIMMINGER, SEAWRIGHT, SIMON, SIMOTAS, SOLAGES, STECK, STERN, STIRPE,
TAYLOR, THIELE, TITUS, WALKER, WALLACE, WEPRIN, WOERNER, ZEBROWSKI,
DiPIETRO, NORRIS, MORINELLO -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. PALMESA-
NO -- read once and referred to the Committee on Education
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,
amending 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
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD05312-01-9
S. 1262 2 A. 783
1 Section 1. Section 3012-d of the education law is amended by adding a
2 new subdivision 16 to read as follows:
3 16. a. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, rule or regulation
4 to the contrary, the grades three through eight English language arts
5 and mathematics state assessments and all other state-created or admin-
6 istered tests shall not be required to be utilized in any manner to
7 determine a teacher or principal evaluation required by this section.
8 b. The commissioner shall promulgate rules and regulations providing
9 alternative assessments that may be used in grades three through eight
10 instead of all other state-created or administered tests, which shall
11 include all of the assessments that have been approved by the commis-
12 sioner for use in determining transition scores and ratings.
13 c. The selection and use of an assessment in a teacher or principal's
14 evaluation pursuant to paragraphs a and b of this subdivision and subdi-
15 vision four of this section shall be subject to collective bargaining
16 pursuant to article fourteen of the civil service law.
17 d. Notwithstanding any provision of subdivision twelve of this section
18 to the contrary, nothing in this section shall be construed to abrogate
19 any conflicting provisions of any collective bargaining agreement in
20 effect on the date this subdivision takes effect and until the entry
21 into a successor collective bargaining agreement, provided that notwith-
22 standing any other provision of law to the contrary, upon expiration of
23 such term and the entry into a successor collective bargaining agreement
24 the provisions of this subdivision shall apply; and, provided further,
25 however, that any assessments used in determining transition scores and
26 ratings shall be used in determining scores and ratings pursuant to this
27 section instead of the grades three through eight English language arts
28 and mathematics state assessments until the entry into a successor
29 collective bargaining agreement.
30 § 2. Subparagraphs 1 and 2 of paragraph a of subdivision 4 of section
31 3012-d of the education law, subparagraph 1 as amended by section 3 of
32 subpart C of part B of chapter 20 of the laws of 2015 and subparagraph 2
33 as added by section 2 of subpart E of part EE of chapter 56 of the laws
34 of 2015, are amended to read as follows:
35 (1) For the first subcomponent, [(A) for a teacher whose course ends
36 in a state-created or administered test for which there is a state-pro-
37 vided growth model, such teacher shall have a state-provided growth
38 score based on such model, which shall take into consideration certain
39 student characteristics, as determined by the commissioner, including
40 but not limited to students with disabilities, poverty, English language
41 learner status and prior academic history and which shall identify
42 educators whose students' growth is well above or well below average
43 compared to similar students for a teacher's or principal's students
44 after the certain student characteristics above are taken into account;
45 and (B) for a teacher whose course does not end in a state-created or
46 administered test such teacher] a teacher shall have a student learning
47 objective (SLO) consistent with a goal-setting process determined or
48 developed by the commissioner, that results in a student growth score;
49 provided that, for any teacher whose course ends in a state-created or
50 administered assessment [for which there is no state-provided growth
51 model], such assessment [must] may be used as the underlying assessment
52 for such SLO;
53 (2) For the optional second subcomponent, a district may locally
54 select a second measure in accordance with this subparagraph. Such
55 second measure shall apply in a consistent manner, to the extent practi-
56 cable, across the district and be either: (A) [a second state-provided
S. 1262 3 A. 783
1 growth score] based on a state-created or administered test [under
2 clause (A) of subparagraph one of this paragraph], or (B) [a growth
3 score] based on a state-designed supplemental assessment[, calculated
4 using a state-provided or approved growth model]. The optional second
5 subcomponent shall provide options for multiple assessment measures that
6 are aligned to existing classroom and school best practices and take
7 into consideration the recommendations in the testing reduction report
8 as required by section one of subpart F of [the chapter] part EE of
9 chapter fifty-six of the laws of two thousand fifteen which added this
10 section regarding the reduction of unnecessary additional testing.
11 § 3. Subdivision 5 of section 3012-d of the education law, as added by
12 section 2 of subpart E of part EE of chapter 56 of the laws of 2015, is
13 amended to read as follows:
14 5. Rating determination. The overall rating determination shall be
15 determined [according to a methodology] as follows:
16 a. [The following rules shall apply: a teacher or principal who is (1)
17 rated using two subcomponents in the student performance category and
18 receives a rating of ineffective in such category shall be rated inef-
19 fective overall; provided, however, that if the measure used in the
20 second subcomponent is a state-provided growth score on a state-created
21 or administered test pursuant to clause (A) of subparagraph one of para-
22 graph a of subdivision four of this section, a teacher or principal who
23 receives a rating of ineffective in such category shall not be eligible
24 to receive a rating of effective or highly effective overall; (2) rated
25 using only the state measure subcomponent in the student performance
26 category and receives a rating of ineffective in such category shall not
27 be eligible to receive a rating of effective or highly effective over-
28 all; and (3) rated ineffective in the teacher observations category
29 shall not be eligible to receive a rating of effective or highly effec-
30 tive overall.
31 b. Except as otherwise provided in paragraph a of this subdivision, a
32 teacher's composite score shall be determined as follows:
33 (1)] If a teacher receives an H in the teacher observation category,
34 and an H in the student performance category, the teacher's composite
35 score shall be H;
36 [(2)] b. If a teacher receives an H in the teacher observation catego-
37 ry, and an E in the student performance category, the teacher's compos-
38 ite score shall be H;
39 [(3)] c. If a teacher receives an H in the teacher observation catego-
40 ry, and a D in the student performance category, the teacher's composite
41 score shall be E;
42 [(4)] d. If a teacher receives an H in the teacher observation catego-
43 ry, and an I in the student performance category, the teacher's compos-
44 ite score shall be D;
45 [(5)] e. If a teacher receives an E in the teacher observation catego-
46 ry, and an H in the student performance category, the teacher's compos-
47 ite score shall be H;
48 [(6)] f. If a teacher receives an E in the teacher observation catego-
49 ry, and an E in the student performance category, the teacher's compos-
50 ite score shall be E;
51 [(7)] g. If a teacher receives an E in the teacher observation catego-
52 ry, and a D in the student performance category, the teacher's composite
53 score shall be E;
54 [(8)] h. If a teacher receives an E in the teacher observation catego-
55 ry, and an I in the student performance category, the teacher's compos-
56 ite score shall be D;
S. 1262 4 A. 783
1 [(9)] i. If a teacher receives a D in the teacher observation catego-
2 ry, and an H in the student performance category, the teacher's compos-
3 ite score shall be E;
4 [(10)] j. If a teacher receives a D in the teacher observation catego-
5 ry, and an E in the student performance category, the teacher's compos-
6 ite score shall be E;
7 [(11)] k. If a teacher receives a D in the teacher observation catego-
8 ry, and a D in the student performance category, the teacher's composite
9 score shall be D;
10 [(12)] l. If a teacher receives a D in the teacher observation catego-
11 ry, and an I in the student performance category, the teacher's compos-
12 ite score shall be I;
13 [(13)] m. If a teacher receives an I in the teacher observation cate-
14 gory, and an H in the student performance category, the teacher's
15 composite score shall be D;
16 [(14)] n. If a teacher receives an I in the teacher observation cate-
17 gory, and an E in the student performance category, the teacher's
18 composite score shall be D;
19 [(15)] o. If a teacher receives an I in the teacher observation cate-
20 gory, and a D in the student performance category, the teacher's compos-
21 ite score shall be I;
22 [(16)] p. If a teacher receives an I in the teacher observation cate-
23 gory, and an I in the student performance category, the teacher's
24 composite score shall be I.
25 § 4. Subdivision 7 of section 3012-d of the education law, as added by
26 section 2 of subpart E of part EE of chapter 56 of the laws of 2015, is
27 amended to read as follows:
28 7. The commissioner shall ensure that the process by which weights and
29 scoring ranges are assigned to subcomponents and categories is transpar-
30 ent and available to those being rated before the beginning of each
31 school year. Such process must ensure that it is possible for a teacher
32 or principal to obtain any number of points in the applicable scoring
33 ranges, including zero, in each subcomponent. The superintendent,
34 district superintendent or chancellor and the representative of the
35 collective bargaining unit (where one exists) shall certify in the
36 district's plan that the evaluation process shall use the standards for
37 the scoring ranges provided by the commissioner. [Provided, however,
38 that in any event, the following rules shall apply: a teacher or princi-
39 pal who is:
40 a. rated using two subcomponents in the student performance category
41 and receives a rating of ineffective in such category shall be rated
42 ineffective overall, except that if the measure used in the second
43 subcomponent is a second state-provided growth score on a state-adminis-
44 tered or sponsored test pursuant to clause (A) of subparagraph one of
45 paragraph a of subdivision four of this section, a teacher or principal
46 that receives a rating of ineffective in such category shall not be
47 eligible to receive a rating of effective or highly effective overall;
48 b. rated using only the state measure subcomponent in the student
49 performance category and receives a rating of ineffective in such cate-
50 gory shall not be eligible to receive a rating of effective or highly
51 effective overall; and
52 c. rated ineffective in the observations category shall not be eligi-
53 ble to receive a rating of effective or highly effective overall.]
54 § 5. Subdivision 10 of section 3012-d of the education law, as added
55 by section 2 of subpart E of part EE of chapter 56 of the laws of 2015,
56 is amended to read as follows:
S. 1262 5 A. 783
1 10. The local collective bargaining representative shall negotiate
2 with the district:
3 a. whether to use a second measure, and, in the event that a second
4 measure is used, which measure to use, pursuant to subparagraph two of
5 paragraph a of subdivision four of this section [and];
6 b. how to implement the provisions of paragraph b of subdivision four
7 of this section, and associated regulations as established by the
8 commissioner, in accordance with article fourteen of the civil service
9 law; and
10 c. the selection and use of an assessment in a teacher or principal's
11 evaluation pursuant to subdivision four of this section and paragraphs a
12 and b of subdivision sixteen of this section.
13 § 6. Section 2 of subpart B of part AA of chapter 56 of the laws of
14 2014 amending the education law relating to providing that standardized
15 test scores shall not be included on a student's permanent record, as
16 amended by section 35 of part CCC of chapter 59 of the laws of 2018, is
17 amended to read as follows:
18 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately [and shall expire and be
19 deemed repealed on December 31, 2019].
20 § 7. This act shall take effect immediately.
