Dive Brief:
- In a Monday vote, the New York Board of Regents postponed the use of test scores in teacher evaluations for four years in a move that runs contrary to the state legislature's decision earlier this year to increase focus on the use of test scores in measuring teacher efficacy.
- The move was expected, having been previously recommended by an exploratory education task force created by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
- Findings from last year show that in New York, 96% of teachers “were rated 'effective' or 'highly effective,'” the New York Times reports, with only 3% deemed “developing” and 1% “ineffective.”
Dive Insight:
Because the newly-passed Every Student Succeeds Act grants states much greater power over how they measure accountability, New York could theoretically abandon test-based teacher evaluations entirely, and similar moves may soon become more commonplace. Backlash against outgoing Education Secretary Arne Duncan’s consolidation of federal power — which notably included tying the adoption of test-based teacher evals to Race to the Top funding or No Child Left Behind waivers — could see states become more likely to come up with their own formulas to measure teacher quality as the nation moves ahead under the new law.