My take on the teacher evaluation deal announced today in Albany
From what I can tell, the part of the deal that was struck between the city and the UFT seems to be a good one: an external arbiter for principal ratings, which is necessary considering the number of unfair "U" ratings we have seen from abusive principals in recent years.
The rest of the deal statewide is very disappointing. If I am reading the agreement correctly, it founders on four main points:
. Teachers will be rated on a curve, with the commissioner having the ultimate power to decide whether the curve is "rigorous" enough -- meaning automatically some teachers must fail;
. Any teacher rated 0-64 out of 100 will be rated "ineffective" (which seems to be a biased scale);
. If a teacher is rated ineffective thru growth rates on assessments alone, he or she must be rated