NY's new education commissioner on Common Core, teacher evals & more
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The state's new education leader, MaryEllen Elia, wants to be known as a teachers' commissioner.
"I am a teacher," Elia said today. "I think of myself as a teacher."
That means more support for teachers to implement Common Core standards. It means better testing with quicker results. And, to Elia, it means using teacher evaluations as an important and meaningful way to measure teachers' abilities.
"My role right now is to go out and listen to some of the concerns people have," Elia said during an hourlong interview with Syracuse Media Group's editorial board. Those listening sessions have included teachers, superintendents, parents' groups and media. This morning, she met with Syracuse's schools superintendent, Dr. Sharon Contreras; this afternoon, she was to meet with superintendents from Syracuse-area schools.
Here's are a few of the issues she touched on today:
The Common Core"I'm very committed to the implementation of the Common Core," she said.
Many teachers, she said, also are embracing the new teaching methods and seeing good results among students.
But teachers need more support to do shift to that pedagogy, she added.
"They need more time," she said. "We've got to step back and give teachers in the state the opportunities to get more accustomed and feel more comfortable...I think we have some work to do there," she said.
Teacher evaluationsEvaluation is a way to figure out if those new teaching methods are working, Elia said. At her last job, as superintendent in Hillsboro County, Fla., Elia added peer reviews and mentors to the evaluation system.
"I'm totally in favor of evaluations for teachers and making that valuable for them," she said.
The biggest components of evaluations, she said, are immediate feedback and striving for continuous improvement.
Elia also said evaluations should not be used as a yardstick to get rid of a certain amount of teachers. "That's not my agenda," she said.
Student testsElia said obtaining testing results more quickly will help teachers and parents better assess what's happening in the classrooms. Part of that will include moving some of New York's standardized tests to a computer-based form.
"We've got to start moving toward that," she said.
Right now, all New York public school students take standardized tests with pencils and paper. Going to computers will take time. It will be at least two years before pilot programs begin.
The community must step upSuccessful districts need involvement from the community, Elia said. And that's in NY's new education commissioner on Common Core, teacher evals & more | syracuse.com: