New Regulations Related to the Annual Professional Performance Reviews (APPR) of Classroom Teachers and Building Principals

October 17, 2019 New Regulations Related to the Annual Professional Performance Reviews (APPR) of Classroom Teachers and Building Principals

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KEEPING YOU INFORMED…

We are writing to inform you of regulations that were recently adopted by the New York State Board of Regents regarding the Annual Professional Performance Review (APPR) of classroom teachers and building principals. On April 12, 2019, Governor Cuomo signed legislation amending Education Law § 3012-d, the law governing APPR. The Board of Regents recently adopted new regulations implementing these amendments.

The new regulations essentially repeat many of the requirements of the prior version, except for the changes that were necessary because of the amendments to Education Law § 3012-d. Specifically, the new regulations:

      • No longer require the use of the State growth model;
      • No longer require the use of the State-created or administered assessments, where they exist, as the evidence for student learning objectives (SLOs);
      • Make the selection and use of an assessment in the required or optional subcomponents of the student performance category of a teacher or principal’s evaluation a subject of collective bargaining;
      • Make clear that the new APPR rules only apply to collective bargaining agreements entered into after April 12, 2019;
      • Specify that the existing provisions of collective bargaining agreements concerning APPR entered into on or before April 12, 2019 remain in place for evaluations conducted in or after the 2019-2020 school year until a new collective bargaining agreement is reached, but mandate that any assessments that were used in calculating “transition” scores and ratings must be used instead of the grades 3-8 ELA and Math State assessments during this time;
      • Eliminate the requirement that the second (optional) subcomponent in the student performance category be based on either a second State-provided growth score or a growth score based on a supplemental assessment that uses a State-provided or approved statistical growth model;
      • Provide for different possibilities to be used in the second (optional) subcomponent, plus allows the use of any other collectively bargained measure of student growth or achievement included in the school district’s or BOCES’ evaluation plan, if approved by the Commissioner;
      • Provide that if the second (optional) subcomponent in the student performance category is selected, the weight of each of the two subcomponents in determining the student performance category rating is locally established, subject to approval by the Commissioner; and
      • Continue the matrix for combining the teacher or principal’s ratings on the student performance category and the observations/school visit category, but eliminate the requirement that an educator be rated “ineffective” overall if he/she is rated “ineffective” on the student performance category and the optional subcomponent of the student performance category is used.

If you would like assistance in reviewing or amending the APPR-related provisions of your collective bargaining agreements as they expire, or if you wish to make changes to your APPR plan before then, please contact Adam Ross or any of our other attorneys at 631-694-2300.

THIS MEMORANDUM IS MEANT TO ASSIST IN GENERAL UNDERSTANDING OF THE CURRENT LAW. IT IS NOT TO BE REGARDED AS LEGAL ADVICE. THOSE WITH PARTICULAR QUESTIONS SHOULD SEEK THE ADVICE OF COUNSEL.

© Lamb & Barnosky, LLP 2019