The New York State Board of Regents 11-6 vote that approved an expansion of state-sponsored tests to evaluate the performance of principals and teachers showed the 17-member group to be split on the issue, but officials from the Hewlett-Woodmere and Lawrence school districts remain steadfast in their opposition to using those tests as part of a review process.
“I am adamant that it hinders the educational process,” said Hewlett-Woodmere Superintendent Dr. Joyce Bisso, who wrote her dissertation on high stakes testing in 2001. “From the research I gathered, from every perspective, school shouldn’t be doing them. Teaching to the test is much less valuable, less valid than teaching for understanding.”
Previously the state mandated that 20 percent of principal and teacher reviews were to be based on student test results from the state exams. This was done to win nearly $700 million in federal “Race to the Top” money. The remainder of the evaluation was classroom observation, 60 percent, and local tests, 20 percent.
For the past three years, Gov. Andrew Cuomo pushed for a stricter teacher evaluation law. This year Cuomo and the State Legislature approved a $1.4 billion increase in school state aid with the provision that 50 percent of teacher evaluations would be based on state test scores. Now test results and classroom observations are nearly equal as part of measuring a teacher’s effectiveness.
Lori Skonberg, president of the Lawrence Teachers Association, said her organization is not opposed to teacher evaluations, but wants the process to be fair and having state test scores comprise half of the review is not, she said.