APPR Statute, Regulations, and Guidance
The purpose of this guidance is to answer questions that educators, administrators, and community stakeholders may have about Education Law §3012-d and Subpart 30-3 of the Commissioner’s regulations.
The Student Learning Objectives (SLO) Guidance Document explains how New York State will assess the student learning growth of students in classrooms where there is no State assessment that can be used for a State-provided growth measure (sometimes called “non-tested subjects”). This resource will be helpful to district leaders as they implement the SLO process, a required component of the teacher evaluation system.
Click the link above for the new Education Law §3012-d, which was added by Chapter 56 of the Laws of 2015. To access the statute, select “Laws” then “Laws of New York” from the top menu bar, enter “3012-d” in the search box and click on the second link, “Education Law § 3012-d.”
At the June 2015 meeting of the Board of Regents, proposed amendments were adopted to amend Subpart 30-2 and add a new Subpart 30-3 to the Rules of the Board of Regents, which relates to annual professional performance reviews of classroom teachers and building principals, in order to implement Education Law §3012-d, as enacted by Chapter 56 of the Laws of 2015, Subparts D and E of Part EE.
These slides were presented to the Board of Regents along with this item as recommendations by the Department for the proposed regulation amendments. Please note, the red text throughout the slide deck represents changes made to the recommendations between the May 2015 and June 2015 Board of Regents meetings. The green text represents changes that were made to the recommendations during the June 2015 Board of Regents meeting.
The “Blue Memo” provides a summary of the regulations adopted by the Board of Regents to implement Education Law 3012-d.
Resources for Appealing State-Provided Growth Scores
Application to Challenge a State-Provided Growth Score (2014-15 School Year and Thereafter)
At its September 2015 meeting, the Board of Regents amended Subparts 30-2 and 30-3 of the Rules of the Board of Regents to prescribe an appeals process for a teacher or principal who wishes to challenge their State-provided growth score, in certain limited circumstances for the 2014-15 school year and thereafter while the Department is reviewing the growth model to determine if any changes are needed.
Teachers and principals who meet the criteria identified in the application and choose to challenge their State-provided shall submit an appeal to the Department, using the above linked application, within 20 days of receipt of their overall APPR rating.
This Frequently Asked Questions document has been created to answer common questions about who is eligible to challenge their State-provided growth score under the revised regulations, how to apply, what evidence should be submitted, etc.
Resources for the Design and Development of APPR Plans
The New York State Education Department is now accepting applications for qualifications for supplemental assessments and corresponding growth models and/or assessments for use with SLOs to be used by districts and BOCES in teacher and principal evaluations as part of their implementation of the Annual Professional Performance Review (APPR) system.
To implement the provisions of Education Law §3012-d relating to annual professional performance reviews of classroom teachers and building principals, the New York State Education Department, is soliciting applications for Teacher and Principal Practice Rubrics that will be used as part of teacher and principal evaluations. And, in limited circumstances, LEAs may apply for a variance to use a teacher and/or principal practice rubric other than those on the Approved List.
To implement the provisions of Education Law §3012-d relating to annual professional performance reviews of classroom teachers and building principals, the New York State Education Department (“NYSED” or “Department”), strongly encourages local educational agencies (LEAs) to select teacher and principal practice rubrics from the Department’s List of Approved Teacher and Principal Practice Rubrics (“Approved List”). In limited circumstances, however, LEAs may apply for a variance to use a teacher and/or principal practice rubric other than those on the Approved List.
The New York State Education Department is now accepting applications for qualifications for supplemental assessments and corresponding growth models and/or assessments for use with SLOs to be used by districts and BOCES in teacher and principal evaluations as part of their implementation of the Annual Professional Performance Review (APPR) system.
Assessments will be added to the Approved List of Assessments to be used with SLOs and the Approved List of Supplemental Assessments to be used with Growth Models as they are approved.
The teacher and principal evaluation road maps are intended to help districts and BOCES navigate the decisions that need to be made in order to implement the new APPR system. The road maps are a summary of the regulations adopted by the Board of Regents to implement Education Law §3012-d.
Two sample APPR plans that are in compliance with Education Law §3012-d have been developed to support districts and BOCES in the design and development of their own APPR plans.
Evaluators and educators are encouraged to use this rubric to measure the quality of the information provided by educators on the NYS SLO Template. Please view the webinar "SLO 102 for Teachers" to see how to use the rubric with a sample SLO. This draft rubric was developed by a national SLO Work Group convened by the Reform Support Network (RSN) that includes representatives from many of the Race to the Top States, including New York State. The goal of the effort was to produce a rubric that multiple states can use to evaluate the quality of SLOs. The group examined a wide range of rubrics from school districts and states across the country, looking for strengths and weaknesses, similarities and differences. The rubric that resulted from the efforts of the group uses one performance level -- meets expectations -- as the decision was made that an SLO should not be approved if it does not meet the expectations set forth in the rubric. This rubric has been updated to align with Education Law §3012-d.
The Student Learning Objective (SLO) template is the statewide form for teachers to use for writing their SLO(s).
School districts and BOCES are required to submit their completed APPR plans aligned with §3012-d into the SED Monitoring APPR portal. The Department reviews each APPR plan to determine if it rigorously complies with the Education Law and corresponding subpart of the Rules of the Board of Regents. APPR plans under Education Law §3012-d should be submitted through the SED Monitoring APPR portal. A template of the APPR form, as it appears in the SED Monitoring APPR portal, can be downloaded here.
The goal of these modules is to guide users through the twelve tasks in the updated SED Monitoring APPR portal and in their understanding of the APPR process under Education Law §3012-d, including:
- The component pieces of the APPR plan for teachers and principals (requirements and options);
- How to structure APPRs to support academic priorities and needs;
- How to submit an APPR plan that meets requirements of law and regulations; and
- How to use resources from NYSED to support the APPR process.
The Task by Task SED Monitoring APPR Portal Guidance Document (APPR §3012-d) was created to be used as a guide for the field, specifically tailored and organized for completing an APPR plan under Education Law §3012-d in the SED Monitoring APPR portal.
An application to apply for a waiver is available on our Independent Evaluator Hardship Waiver page and on NYSED’s Application Business Portal at http://portal.nysed.gov. Please note: This application must be completed online through the NYSED’s Application Business Portal at http://portal.nysed.gov.
NYSED will continue to post school districts’ APPR plans as they become approved.
Waivers Pursuant to Education Law §3012-d
The applications for the Undue Burden and Rural/Single Building District Independent Evaluator Hardship waivers are available on NYSED’s Application Business Portal. Please note: This application must be completed online through the NYSED’s Application Business Portal and submitted by February 1st of the school year for which each waiver is sought.
An application to apply for the annual Student Assignment Hardship Waiver is available on NYSED’s Application Business Portal. Please note: this waiver application must be completed and submitted online, beginning August 1, through NYSED’s Application Business Portal no later than October 15 of the school year for which the waiver is sought.
This slide deck outlines the reporting requirements under Education Law §3012-d, including the submission of transition scores and ratings.
This chart provides examples of Original and Transition Staff Evaluation data elements required under Education Law §3012-d aligned by component of the Annual Professional Performance Review plan.
These examples illustrate the submission of 2016-17 Staff Evaluation data for Original and Transition scores and ratings under Education Law §3012-d.
This memorandum provides an update on the following: 1. 2016-17 APPR Implementation Certification Form; 2. APPR data collection and reporting timelines and requirements; 3. APPR review and approval processes for 2017-18 school year material changes.
This memorandum provides continuing information regarding several APPR data collection and reporting deadlines. A Frequently Asked Questions document has been created surrounding common questions about the data submission and the Statement of Confirmation of 2016-17 Staff Evaluation Rating Verification Report and has been included for your reference. The submission deadline for staff evaluation data is October 27, 2017*, and the deadline to submit the “Statement of Confirmation of 2016-17 Staff Evaluation Rating Verification Report” is November 17, 2017.
* Due to feedback we have received from districts, BOCES, and Regional Information Centers regarding issues with the software many districts and BOCES use to generate and submit their staff evaluation data, Level 2 will accept data for an additional week. The staff evaluation data submission deadline is October 27, however, the container will be open through November 3 to accept data from LEAs that are not able to complete their submission by October 27. Additionally, the 2016-17 Statement of Confirmation of Staff Evaluation Verification form will be due on November 17, 2017 instead of November 3.
This webinar is designed to provide helpful feedback to the field based on common issues we are seeing as districts/BOCES submit their APPR data for the October 27, 2017 deadline. Please note: Local level 1 data centers will require earlier due dates to allow sufficient time for processing. Several sample scenarios with illustrative data have been utilized to show appropriate steps in data submission.
