§ 3012-E — Teacher and principal performance review plans

§ 3012-e. Teacher and principal performance review plans. 1.\nNotwithstanding any other provision of law, rule, or regulation to the\ncontrary, for the annual professional performance reviews related to the\ntwo thousand twenty-four--two thousand twenty-five school year and\nthereafter, a school district or board of cooperative educational\nservices shall conduct performance reviews of classroom teachers and\nbuilding principals in accordance with the provisions of this section or\nsection three thousand twelve-d of this article, as applicable. Provided\nthat all school districts and boards of cooperative educational services\nshall adopt a performance review plan pursuant to this section no later\nthan June thirtieth, two thousand thirty-two and such plan shall be used\nto complete performance reviews of classroom teachers and building\nprincipals no later than the two thousand thirty-two--two thousand\nthirty-three school year. Performance review plans developed pursuant to\nthis section shall be the result of reaching a collectively bargained\nagreement negotiated pursuant to article fourteen of the civil service\nlaw where a recognized employee organization exists.\n 2. Nothing herein shall require modification of an existing teacher\nand principal evaluation plan approved by the commissioner pursuant to\nsection three thousand twelve-d of this article and all teacher and\nprincipal evaluation plans approved by the commissioner pursuant to the\nprovisions of section three thousand twelve-d of this article shall not\nbe affected by the provisions of this section on or before June\nthirtieth, two thousand thirty-two; provided, however, that when a\nschool district or board of cooperative educational services adopts a\nperformance review plan pursuant to this section, the school district or\nboard of cooperative educational services shall notify the department\nand submit the new plan to the department for review on a form and in a\nmanner prescribed by the commissioner. Provided further that, prior to\nJune thirtieth, two thousand thirty-two, a teacher and principal\nevaluation plan may still be adopted or modified pursuant to section\nthree thousand twelve-d of this article consistent with the provisions\nof such section.\n 3. The performance reviews conducted pursuant to this section shall be\na significant factor in teacher and principal development, including but\nnot limited to coaching, induction support, and differentiated\nprofessional development for all teachers and principals.\n 4. (a) A school board or board of cooperative educational services\nshall make its most recently adopted and reviewed plan pursuant to this\nsection available on the school district or board of cooperative\neducational services' website.\n (b) On an annual basis, each school district and board of cooperative\neducational services shall submit to the commissioner the ratings for\neach classroom teacher and building principal on each applicable\nteaching or leadership standard, as well as the overall rating for each\nteacher and principal, where available, on a form and in a manner\nprescribed by the commissioner. Such data shall be collected and used to\nthe extent necessary to comply with any applicable state and federal\nstatutory requirements.\n (c) The commissioner and each school district and board of cooperative\neducational services shall ensure that any release to the public of data\ncollected pursuant to this section, or any other data that is used as a\ncomponent of performance reviews, does not include personally\nidentifying information for any classroom teacher or building principal;\nprovided, however, that each school district or board of cooperative\neducational services shall fully disclose and release to the parents or\nlegal guardians of a student the most recent performance review rating\nreceived for each of the teachers and for the principal of the school\nbuilding to which the student is assigned for the current school year\nconsistent with paragraph b of subdivision ten of section three thousand\ntwelve-c of this article.\n (d) Performance reviews of individual classroom teachers and building\nprincipals shall not be subject to disclosure pursuant to article six of\nthe public officers law.\n 5. (a) Performance review plans developed pursuant to this section\nshall:\n (i) include the criteria by which all classroom teachers and building\nprincipals shall be reviewed and a description of the review procedures;\n (ii) address each state teaching and educational leadership standard,\nas developed or adopted by the commissioner;\n (iii) consist of multiple measures; provided, however, that one\nmeasure shall be classroom observations of classroom teachers and school\nvisits of building principals. The plan shall describe the number and\nfrequency of observations; provided that nothing herein shall be\nconstrued to require that all classroom teachers or building principals\nhave the same number or frequency of observations.\n (iv) provide the classroom teacher or building principal with timely,\nactionable feedback on their practice based on the information collected\nas part of the performance review;\n (v) assign ratings on each applicable teaching or educational\nleadership standard and an overall rating of Level 4, Level 3, Level 2,\nor Level 1 consistent with the following requirements:\n (1) Level 1 shall indicate performance significantly below a school\ndistrict's or board of cooperative educational services' expectations\naligned to teaching or educational leadership standards;\n (2) Level 2 shall indicate performance that partially meets a school\ndistrict's or board of cooperative educational services' expectations\naligned to teaching or educational leadership standards;\n (3) Level 3 shall indicate performance that meets a school district's\nor board of cooperative educational services' expectations aligned to\nteaching or educational leadership standards; and\n (4) Level 4 shall indicate performance that exceeds a school\ndistrict's or board of cooperative educational services' expectations\naligned to teaching or educational leadership standards;\n (vi) ensure that it is possible for a classroom teacher or building\nprincipal to obtain each rating on each teaching or educational\nleadership standard and as an overall rating. The process by which\nratings are assigned shall be transparent and available to those being\nrated prior to the start of the school year, to the extent practicable;\nand\n (vii) include a process for each classroom teacher and building\nprincipal to receive formal support for professional growth each year,\nprovided that teachers and principals who receive an overall rating of\nLevel 1 or 2 shall have a personalized professional development plan,\ndeveloped by the school district or board of cooperative educational\nservices, consistent with a locally determined growth goal setting\nprocess.\n (b) One measure may be used to address more than one teaching or\neducational leadership standard provided that the performance review\nincludes multiple measures.\n (c) Performance reviews conducted pursuant to this section may assess\na subset of the teaching and educational leadership standards in a given\nyear; provided, however, that probationary classroom teachers and\nbuilding principals shall be rated on each teaching or educational\nleadership standard annually.\n (d) Nothing in this section shall be construed to require all\nclassroom teachers or building principals to be evaluated based on the\nsame measures or to receive an overall rating annually; provided,\nhowever, that at a minimum, probationary teachers and principals shall\nreceive a rating on each teaching or educational leadership standard and\nan overall rating annually, while other teachers and principals may have\na differentiated performance review process that does not culminate in\nan overall rating annually. Provided, further, that nothing herein shall\nbe construed to prohibit or prevent any other teachers and principals\nfrom receiving an overall rating annually.\n 6. The school district or board of cooperative educational services,\nas applicable, shall ensure that all classroom teachers and building\nprincipals as well as any individual who conducts all or part of a\nperformance review receive appropriate training consistent with the\nregulations of the commissioner and shall ensure that each teacher and\nprincipal who is reviewed in accordance with this section has the\nopportunity to provide written comment on their performance review in\naddition to any collectively bargained teacher and principal performance\nreview grievance or appeal procedures.\n 7. Nothing in this section shall be construed to affect the unfettered\nstatutory right of a school district or board of cooperative educational\nservices, as applicable, to terminate a probationary classroom teacher\nor principal for any statutorily and constitutionally permissible\nreasons.\n 8. Performance review plans developed pursuant to this section shall\nbe submitted to the commissioner on a form and in a manner prescribed by\nthe commissioner. The commissioner shall review such plan to determine\ncompliance with the requirements of this section. If the commissioner\ndetermines that the submitted plan is not in compliance with this\nsection, the plan shall be returned to the school district or board of\ncooperative educational services for revision. Such revisions shall be\nresolved through collective bargaining, to the extent required under\narticle fourteen of the civil service law. The plan most recently\naccepted by the commissioner pursuant to this section shall remain in\neffect until a subsequent plan is agreed to by the parties and reviewed\nby the commissioner to determine compliance with the requirements of\nthis section. Each school district and board of cooperative educational\nservices shall certify annually to the commissioner that they have fully\nimplemented the plan most recently accepted by the commissioner.\n