APPR Q & A.
1. Q: How will APPR impact Education Law 3020-a and the Taylor Law?
-- Chris Colesanti
A: If a member receives two successive ratings of ineffective or developing, or a
successive combination of the two, and the member’s appeals are unsuccessful,
the District may use this information to start a 3020-a proceeding. There is no
impact on the Taylor Law.
2. Q: Why is the local 20% measure for 2nd grade the average of grades 4 and 5 as
opposed to grades 3, 4 and 5?
-- Marcia Richmond
A: NYS provides a value-added score for grades 4-8; therefore, grade 3 cannot be
included for calculation. Additionally, grade 3 has an independent assessment.
3. Q: Will modifications be made so that all teachers can be present during the
administration of NWEA?
--Katie Mark
A: “If I understand the second question, you are asking if teachers can be present
when their students are given the NWEA. I would suggest that question be posed
to the elementary and middle school principals who will be setting up the
schedule for NWEA. It seems to me that will be the case with elementary
teachers but middle school may be different. In any case the principals in the
buildings coordinate proctoring and they should be the source of that
information.”
--Noreen Leahy.
4. Q: How will partial leave affect a teacher’s APPR score?
-- Irma Altman
A: Leave replacement teachers will not be evaluated under APPR. They will be
observed, of course, but will not receive a composite score. The only exception to
that is if someone is a teacher of record and reported to the state as such. In that
case any teacher of record reported on BEDS day will be linked to students and
assuming that person's students have a total of 16 scores, they will receive a
score.”
--Noreen Leahy.
5. Q: Why does the District include Speech Pathologists in APPR when NYS
excludes Speech Pathologists?
-- Emily Santamarina
A: “Faculty not evaluated under APPR are as follows: Speech, HS/MS Librarians,
Guidance Counselors, Social Workers, Psychologists and HS Nurse Teacher. The
first two categories are new since the updated guidance on August 13, based on
related services versus teacher of record.”
--Noreen Leahy.
6. Q: What does mastery mean regarding Regents Diploma Rates?
--Tom Hessel
A: For NYS, mastery means 85 or better on a Regents exam. For APPR, mastery
means 65 or better.
7. Q: Is the Regents Diploma a ‘basic’ diploma or an ‘advanced designation’
diploma?
--Tom Hessel
A: The Regents Diploma is a ‘basic’ diploma. The IB Diploma, for example is an
‘advanced designation’ diploma.
8. Q: Regarding local measures, what does ‘the mean score of all teachers whose
courses end in a Regents Exam’ mean?
--Tom Hessel
A: The mean score is the arithmetic mean. ‘The mean score of all teachers’
means the merger of all subject teachers’ scores into one arithmetic mean.
9. Q: Regarding the 8th grade math assessment: since these teachers teach the
integrated algebra regents, should they be able to use the same evaluations as 8th
grade science: 50% of students show growth on regents as compared to a pretest?
This is exactly what the 9th grade is doing and the 8th grade teachers are
essentially teaching a 9th grade course.
-- Mindy Hedelman
A: The question is out to Noreen.
10. Q: Regarding ELA and Math evaluation, are the teachers evaluated as follows: 10
points ELA and 10 points Math for State tests, and 10 points ELA and 10 points
in Math in NWEA, so as to get the 40 points? Also, for example in grade 5, if one
teacher teaches ELA to both sections, and the other teacher teaches Math to both
sections, how will each teacher be evaluated?
-- Sherry Landau
A: Math and ELA are separate. Math teachers take the math grade and all other
teachers take the ELA grade based on the shared theme/district goal of literacy.
The breakdown for grades 4-8 is 25 and 15: all math or all ELA. If a teacher
teaches both math and ELA, a merged score is used.
11. Q: Regarding ‘Other Measures,’ the chart is too general. How will the points be
determined? How will what is acceptable to one administrator or in one building
compare to other buildings? How can the awarding of the points be consistent?
-- MS Science Department
A: The ‘Other Measures’ chart is general, but a breakdown of each item, such as
collegial circle, has been reviewed favorably by the administration and will be
posted on the RVCTA website. The awarding of points is up to the individual
administrator/evaluator, but the number of points was collectively bargained.
12. Q: The Tech and Home and Careers teachers at the Middle School cannot find
their subjects on the charts in Appendix D. Should they be listed in the same
column with Foreign Lang./ SE/ Phys. Ed/ Music/ Art/ AIS/ etc.?
-- MS Tech and Career Teachers
A: “Yes, I considered them part of the Art department under Dr. Zuar’s
supervision. They will follow the same SLOs as the categories you listed.”
-- Noreen Leahy.