NEW YORK ANNOUNCES STATEWIDE DEAL WITH UNIONS ON EDUCATOR EVALUATIONS — Hours before a deadline imposed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, he, along with state education officials and teachers union leaders, announced concord on the teacher evaluations format approved by the state Board of Regents last year. Teachers will be classified as “ineffective,” “developing,” “effective,” or “highly effective” using a 100-point scale based 40 percent on student scores on state exams and 60 percent on a set of collectively bargained, more subjective measures that must be tightly defined and backed by research.

The test score portion includes a provision that half of this must be based on improvement by specific groups of students, such as English language learners and special needs students.  A series of three teacher observations, including one unannounced observation, will account for more than half of the collectively bargained portion of an evaluation. Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch was happy with the agreement, but added, “Today is a good day, but the best day will be when we’ve fully implemented the Regents’ reforms and we’ve made sure all our students get the education they need to succeed in college and careers.”

Cuomo had threatened to unilaterally impose the evaluations systems under his budgetary authority if the union did not approve the plan by the close of business Feb. 16. If the state did not reach agreement with the unions, New York faced the loss of $2.5 billion in federal Race to the Top grants it won in part because of its promise to implement the new evaluation system. The deal also means the union will drop its lawsuit to prevent implementation of the evaluations. Sources: New York Times (2/16/12), New York Education Department press release (2/16/12)

CONNECTICUT BOARD OKAYS TEACHER EVALUATION FRAMEWORK — The State Board of Education in Connecticut unanimously approved the guidelines for evaluating teachers and principals, with students’ academic progress included as a significant factor in assessing educators’ performance. The framework was developed by an advisory council that included representatives from the state’s two largest teachers’ organizations. The unions endorsed the effort to reform tenure and update evaluations, with the stipulation that the evaluations be fair, consistent, undertaken by well-trained evaluators, and ensure that struggling educators have opportunities to improve. State education Commissioner Stephan Pryor told the state board that “the point of the system is to enable professionals to improve their practice, so it’s critical that the support infrastructure, professional development, and training offered be geared toward remedying those needs that are identified.” The framework now goes to another advisory council, whose job will to flesh out the details of the system. Source: Connecticut Post (2/10/12)

INDIANA STATE BOARD OKS CHANGE TO SCHOOL GRADING SYSTEM — Indiana’s State Board of Education approved broad changes to the way schools are evaluated statewide. While maintaining the current letter grade system, the new plan includes a school assessment system that credits schools when their students test performance is better than student performance in other schools. The formula that determines the grade includes a complex model that considers students’ performance growth as high only if they outscore two-thirds of students at the same grade level. This means that no matter how well students score, only one-third of all students can actually show “high growth” based on state exams. Sources: IndyStar.com (2/8/12), Evansville Courier Press (2/9/12)

KENTUCKY STATE BOARD APPROVES STUDENT BMI TESTING — The Kentucky State Board of Education approved a policy that will require schools to screen students to find their body mass index (BMI). The testing—scheduled to begin in the next school year following some regulatory review—will provide information for students’ cumulative health records, which are available to parents. The screenings will take place during annual physical exams in grades preschool through five, and at least once each in middle and high school. This will make Kentucky the 22nd state to require BMI screenings, up from just four in 2005. Though there are not opt-out provisions for parents, they are encouraged to address concerns with their school principals. The policy also ends mandatory scoliosis screenings for middle school students. In 2004, a federal task force recommended against routine scoliosis screening, and school nurse shortages have made it necessary to prioritize their time. Source: EdWeek.org (2/10/12), communication with Kentucky Department of Education (2/10/12)

COLORADO LAW CHANGES TENURE, TEACHER AND PRINCIPAL EVALUATIONS — A new law in Colorado mandates student test scores account for half a teacher’s evaluation. The law is based on standards for an “effective” teacher rating adopted by the state board of education that include an educator’s content knowledge, improvements in student achievement, and leadership. However, some important details have been left out of the law. While 50 percent of an evaluation must come from test scores, 70 percent of teachers in Colorado do not have standardized tests that cover their grade level and/or their subject specialty. The state is investigating different assessments to include those areas, and the state education department is trying out some evaluation models in districts statewide. All districts have until the 2014-15 school year to adopt the state system or come up with their own equivalent evaluations. The new educator assessments will not carry consequences until 2016. Source: Denver Post (2/16/12)

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION BUDGET INCLUDES $5B TEACHER GRANT PROGRAM — As part of the budget proposal announced by President Obama, $5 billion would be set aside for a competitive state grant program designed to change the teaching profession. Among the provisions in the Recognizing Educational Success, Professional Excellence, and Collaborative Teaching (RESPECT) plan are making teacher preparation programs more selective, creating more avenues for merit pay based on student performance and working in “challenging” schools, raising teachers’ pay overall, and altering professional development models, among other areas. No details about how the applications would be judged have been released. Follow this link for more information about the plan. (Follow this link for NASBE’s statement about the budget at.) Sources: U.S. Department of Education press release (2/15/12), Governing.com (2/16/12)

In other news from the Department, New Mexico’s application for a waiver from tenets of the No Child Left Behind Act was approved this week. Ten other state waivers were announced last week, and more are expected before the end of the month. (See also NASBE’s reaction to the waiver awards.) Sources: New Mexico Public Education Department press release (2/15/12), U.S. Department of Education press release (2/15/12)

CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR RESTORES $248M FOR SCHOOL BUSES — A law signed this week by California Gov. Jerry Brown will return $248 million to the state budget for school transportation. The legislation replaces the millions originally cut from bus money with a universal plan that will spread cuts of about $42 per student to all K-12 districts. The bipartisan measure is a relief to districts that would otherwise have been forced to make significant changes to their own budgets to ensure students had bus transportation to and from school each day. Brown previously said he plans to eliminate bus funding next year and plans to instead create a block grant for districts to offset the cost. Source: Sacramento Bee (2/16/12)

VIRGINIA SENATE NARROWLY BLOCKS AN EFFORT TO ELIMINATE TEACHER TENURE — By two votes, the Virginia Senate blocked a bill to effectively end teacher tenure, which has been a major part of Gov. Bob McDonnell’s education reform plan. The measure passed the state House over bipartisan opposition, but the Senate denied the bill 20-18, with two Republicans not voting. The legislation would have given principals the power to fire teachers without showing cause and would lengthen a new teacher’s probationary period from the current three years to a five-year stretch. Source: Washington Post (2/14/12)

WYOMING LAWMAKERS KILL EFFORT TO RAISE FINES FOR PARENTS OF TRUANT STUDENTS — Last week the Headline Review reported the Wyoming Legislature was considering a bill that would have raised fines for parents or guardians whose children have more than two unexcused absences from school. This week state senators voted 20-14 against the introduction of the bill. The measure would have raised the minimum fine from $5 to $100 and would have raised the maximum fine from $25 to $1,000. Source: Wyomingnews.com (2/16/12)

NEW YORK COURT PERMITS PUBLICATION OF TEACHER EVALUATION SCORES — A New York state court denied a teachers’ union appeal to prevent the public release of teacher evaluation results in New York City. The reports on more than 12,000 teachers in city schools were compiled in 2008, and in 2010 the union sued to prevent the city from releasing the reports to the news media—which requested access—based on privacy issues. Since the original reports were compiled, New York state education officials contracted a firm to do similar reports for every teacher statewide and the city has decided to use the state’s new formula, which differs from that used in 2008. A city education spokesman said the reports will be released within the next few weeks. Source: Wall Street Journal (2/14/12)