Extra Evaluation Paperwork And Documentation Do Not Make For Better Teachers!

Sheriff Andy said last week that his vaunted new teacher evaluation system is "exactly right".

Teachers around the state beg to differ:

And although 91.5 percent of teachers statewide were ranked effective or highly effective on the 2012-13 annual teacher review plan, Victor third grade teacher Ted Isham said the measuring system leaves a lot to be desired. He said he’s not alone.

“In my district, a lot of teachers are really upset about their scores because of the way they’re calculated,” said Isham. “It’s frustrating, because 20 percent of my score depends on how an 8-year-old does on one 7.5-hour New York State Grade 3 math test. And I lose a lot of instructional time proctoring these tests.”

He hopes parents will understand that a teacher’s or principal’s score is just part of the picture.

“That score doesn’t give you all you need to know about a teacher,” Isham said. “Your particular child might have particular needs that might best be met by a teacher who didn’t get the highest score.  

And after adhering to what Isham calls “an unwieldy set of rules” and a mountain of paperwork, the outcome for Isham isn’t making him a better teacher, he said. 

“I don’t feel like I’ve adjusted my teaching. I just have to provide a lot more evidence,” he said.

Cuomo and company put this in place to drive people out of teaching, to make the profession so laden with paperwork and drudgery that nobody will want to do it for more than a couple of years.

They don't care about children in the school system - not one bit.

Why should they care?

Their kids go to private schools - they don't have to worry about their kids getting the "reforms" the kids in public school are getting.

This is simply about cutting labor costs and pension costs while increasing the payouts to the edu-entrpreneurs and testing companies that provide the campaign donations for the politicians and the future jobs for the NYSED functionaries.