| Janet Joyce Friday, February 1, 2013 |
New York State Education Commissioner, John B. King Jr., got more than an earful when he invited Long Island teachers to speak out over any concerns they may have. The conversations ranged from teacher job evaluations, testing and other worries of Long Island educators.
To put an exclamation point as to why the teachers are voicing concners, Frank Naccarato, principal of Lindenhurst Middle School said, "Our teachers are extremely hardworking, but they're scared. That's no way to run a school."
Other principals, from the six schools that were visited by the commissioner, also voiced concerns. These evolved especially around the testing standards. Some wondered aloud what local residents would think if the school's test scores slip in the spring. In recent months, King's aides have warned of this possibility because tests will reflect new national Common Core academic standards that are intended to be more rigorous.
King, who is a frequent visitor to the Island, said this week's return was to check schools' progress on two fronts. One of the reasons is the Common Core standards, which have proved popular with teachers assigned to deliver lessons based on them. The standards are meant, among other things, to encourage more analytical readings of nonfiction, including the speeches of great statesmen.
The other reason is to evaluate the jobs teachers are doing, which are largely unpopular with teachers and with the principals assigned to rate them and be rated themselves. Evaluations are based partially on student test scores, which are translated through a complex formula into ratings. This was also a field of contention with the concerns that were voiced in front of press and television cameras.
King and his Education Department must decide how to report results of initial ratings already developed for teachers in grades 4-8. Those ratings, which will count for 20 percent of full evaluations, were delivered to local districts in August. The agency has said it may release ratings, without teachers' names, next month, after it works out details for protecting individuals' privacy.
As these changes take place it is hopeful that the teachers will begin to adopt them into their lesson plans and feel more confident in them.
janetj@longislandyellowpages.com Appears In: Education
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