NYSUT, in partnership with local unions in five New York communities, will pioneer a new teacher evaluation system under a grant from the American Federation of Teachers.

The AFT Innovation Fund is a groundbreaking effort to provide funding to develop bold education innovations in public schools. It is supported by union funding and grants from major private donors including Bill and Melinda Gates, the Carnegie Corp., the Ford Foundation and Eli and Edythe Broad Foundations.

"This is a step in a new direction — teachers and their unions leading classroom reforms," said NYSUT President Dick Iannuzzi.

The project is exciting, he said, because it underscores the importance of collaboration and teamwork in improving teaching, and calls on both administrators and local unions to take risks.

NYSUT Vice President Maria Neira said the grant will assist union-district teams in creating comprehensive teaching standards and evaluation systems in Albany, Plattsburgh, Marlboro, Hastings and Poughkeepsie.

Local teacher unions and administrators will develop the program around a simple principle: Students learn better when their teachers are well-trained and supported by their colleagues and administrators.

Neira said NYSUT will use the first-year, $200,000 planning grant to assist school districts and local unions in developing programs modeled after successful pilot Peer Assistance and Review programs already in place in several districts, including Hamburg and Kenmore in western New York, and Syracuse.

NYSUT will help to create programs that link three critical elements: high teaching standards, a comprehensive teacher evaluation system and differentiated professional development that targets individual teachers' needs.

Programs are expected to engage teachers as peer reviewers and provide educators more meaningful feedback about their instructional practices and professional development.
Implementation would begin next school year. In years two and three, other local unions will be encouraged to participate.

"Students in participating school districts will not only benefit from better-trained teachers, but from the union-management collaboration and cooperation that must be present in order for this new evaluation system to work," Neira said. "Local communities and taxpayers will also benefit from what we strongly believe will be more support for beginning teachers that will keep the best teachers on the job."

Neira noted the project has the potential to transform teacher evaluations in New York state.

"It recognizes that teacher evaluations should include administrators and teachers, working together with a shared responsibility to enhance classroom practice, raise student performance and identify those who are not measuring up even with repeated, quality individualized support," she said.

The AFT Innovation Fund was created by AFT President Randi Weingarten, who launched the $2.8 million fund last year as a way to put both the AFT and some of the nation's largest foundations behind reforms designed by teachers and the unions who support them.

More than 125 grant applications were submitted for the first round of funding.

"Many out there will be surprised to learn these proposals come from unions," Weingarten said. "Teachers and their unions are not afraid to take risks and share the responsibility for student success."