State law ends mandatory link between standardized test scores, teacher evaluations

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The New York State Senate passed a bill last week that eliminates the mandatory use of state assessments to determine a teacher or principal’s effectiveness. It amends a 2015 education law and empowers school districts and teachers to make the decision on whether to use standardized tests in teacher or principal evaluations.

Rockville Centre Schools Superintendent Dr. William Johnson noted that he was against the previous mandates of using state exam scores to evaluate teachers, and had supported efforts to change the law.

“That’s not to say that it’s not an element that should be included in our understanding of the efficacy of instruction,” he said. “There’s got to be a connection between instruction and student outcome, but how that gets weaved into the evaluation of a teacher is far more complex than the state ever gave it credit for.”

Johnson has been an outspoken critic of standardized tests, and noted that due to a high number of students opting out of the tests in recent years, the scores are “hardly interpretable.” This year, 53.2 percent and 59 percent of Rockville Centre students in grades three to eight opted out of the state math and ELA exams, respectively.

Assemblywoman Judy Griffin, a Democrat from Rockville Centre, has supported the opt-out movement for years, and said the legislation, which she co-sponsored in the state Assembly, is a victory for parents and educators.

“We’ve seen time and time again on Long Island that a one-size-fits-all approach to education does not work for students or teachers,” Griffin said in a news release. “Every student learns differently, and test scores aren’t an accurate measure of a student’s knowledge or a teacher’s ability to educate.”

Since 2015, school districts’ Annual Professional Performance Review plans required the use of state tests to determine an educator’s effectiveness to remain eligible for state aid increases.

State Sen. Shelley Mayer, who sponsored the bill, said, “Excessive reliance on standardized testing is detrimental to student engagement in the classroom. This bill allows local school districts the flexibility to work with teachers to create evaluation systems that meet the needs of students and the district.”

Johnson said there are many ways to better determine how effective teachers are, which the district will continue to use. “We can take a look at homework, we can look at assignments, we can look at products in the classroom, we can look at end-of-year exams, we can take a look at state exams,” he noted. “All of those things contribute to what we know and understand kids have learned.”