NY Teachers Union Helps To Develop Performance Rubric

The New York State United Teachers union has involved themselves in the forming of a new performance rubric intended to hold teachers accountable

The media department at The New York State United Teachers union issued a press release regarding some news in the “How can we better judge teacher performance?” debate.  The NYSUT welcomed the State Education Department’s inclusion of a NYSUT Innovation Initiative model in its list of approved rubrics for the new teacher evaluation system.  The rubric was designed by teams of teachers and administrators working in collaboration.  Districts and their local unions from across the state will choose a rubric from that list in developing their system of evaluating teachers.

“Once again, collaboration among stakeholders and an emphasis on the excellent work of practitioners results in the highest standards that will ultimately lead to student success,” said NYSUT President Richard C. Iannuzzi. “

The NYSUT initiative began roughly two years ago with a grant from the American Federation of Teachers Innovation Fund and has since received a federal i3 grant to continue that work. The AFT is one of NYSUT’s national affiliates.  Guided by national experts, the NYSUT Teacher Practice Rubric was developed by teams of practitioners from the school district labor and management teams involved in NYSUT’s Innovation Initiative. The rubric development was informed by current research on teaching standards and teacher practice rubrics from the Danielson’s Framework, the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards and others.

NYSUT Vice President Maria Neira said: “This is an example of taking the lead in defining excellence as we work to enhance instructional practices. This is complex work and it needs to be done right.”

Read the full press release here.