APPR Updates Office of Teacher/Principal Quality and Professional Development

2 At their December 2015 meeting, the Board of Regents adopted sections and of the Rules of the Board of Regents providing for APPR transition scores and ratings for the through school years. During the transition period, LEAs must calculate both original and transition scores and ratings. The results of grades 3-8 ELA/math State assessments and any State-provided growth scores must be excluded from the transition score/rating calculations. State-provided growth scores and the original scores and ratings must still be provided for advisory purposes.

School Year Requirements: §§ 3012-c and 3012-d Districts/BOCES must continue to calculate scores and ratings pursuant to the approved APPR plan (i.e., the “original” scores and ratings). Districts/BOCES will also calculate transition scores and ratings that exclude the results of 3-8 ELA/math State assessments and any State-provided growth scores. The overall transition scores and ratings will be determined based upon the remaining subcomponents of the APPR that are not based on the grade 3-8 ELA or math State assessments or a State-provided growth score on Regents exams.* 3 * The Department anticipates returning to the Board of Regents at its February 2016 meeting with proposed regulatory changes that will provide districts implementing APPR plans pursuant to Education Law §3012-d during the school year the same protections that the new transition regulations provide districts implementing APPR plans pursuant to Education Law §3012-c during the school year.

through School Year Requirements Districts/BOCES must continue to calculate “original” and transition scores and ratings. The overall transition scores and ratings will be determined based upon the remaining subcomponents of the APPR that are not based on the grade 3-8 ELA or math State assessments or a State-provided growth score on Regents exams. Where no scores or ratings in the subcomponents of the Student Performance Category can be generated, an alternate SLO must be developed using assessments approved by the Department that are not 3-8 ELA and math State assessments. 4

What Are Some Assessment Options for Alternate SLOs? Assessment options include:  Grades 4 and 8 State Science assessments  Regents examinations (so long as not using the State-provided growth score)  State-approved third-party assessments *  State-approved district, regional, or BOCES-developed assessments * During the transition period, common branch teachers will not be required to have at least one math and one ELA SLO. Alternate SLOs during the transition period may utilize district- wide measures (i.e., measures based on assessments administered outside of an educator’s building). 5 * In order for third-party and locally-developed assessments to be used for evaluations under Ed. Law §3012-d, an application must be submitted to the Assessment RFQ. The Department is reviewing these applications in an expedited manner and the requirements for assessments for use with SLOs were revised on September 18, 2015 to significantly reduce the amount of information that applicants need to provide.

Impact on Hardship Waivers and Approved §3012-d plans Hardship Waivers will be automatically renewed for all districts that are currently implementing a §3012-c APPR plan pursuant to a Hardship Waiver that was approved by the November 15, 2015 deadline. Districts must still have a §3012-d APPR plan approved by the Department by September 1, 2016 to maintain eligibility for State aid increase.  Districts should submit their §3012-d APPR plans by July 1, 2016 to ensure approval by September 1,  The APPR portal is being updated for the school year to accommodate entry of alternate SLOs during the transition period. If your district/BOCES already has an approved §3012-d APPR plan, that plan does not need to be revised for the school year as a result of the new regulations.  Instead, your district/BOCES will have to submit a supplemental form describing the alternate SLOs that will be used during the transition period so that you do not need to re-open the entire APPR plan. Further information about this form will be posted on EngageNY. 6

TIPs, PIPs, and Data Submission and Reporting For all employment related decisions and TIP/PIP determinations, districts/BOCES must use the overall composite transition rating. For the purposes of reporting staff evaluation data to the Department, districts/BOCES must calculate and provide both the original and transition scores and ratings.  The reporting template is being updated to accommodate this change. For purposes of disclosure to parents/guardians upon their request, both the original composite score and/or rating and the overall transition composite score and/or rating along with an explanation of the transition score/rating. The Public Data Access Site will be updated to report both original and transition ratings. 7