Performance Evaluation Advisory Council (PEAC) releases educator evaluation guidelines

On Wednesday, Jan. 25, the Performance Evaluation Advisory Council (PEAC) released their guidelines for evaluating educators. PEAC is recommending a three-tiered system:

• Multiple indicators of student learning will count as 45% of the evaluation. Half of that 45% weight will come from a standardized test, which would be either the CMT, CAPT, or another valid, reliable test  that measures student learning.
• Teacher performance and professional practice will be weighted at 40%.
• Other peer, student, and parent feedback will be weighted at 5% with professional activities counting for 10%.

PEAC has been meeting for more than a year working to develop guidelines on which everyone agreed.

"This is a pretty good plan," agreed Sharon Palmer, president of AFT Connecticut. "Yes, student improvement and growth is playing a huge role, but it's factoring it in in a fair way."

PEAC includes representatives from AFT Connecticut, the Connecticut Education Association, the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education, the Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents, the Connecticut Federation of School Administrators,

As a member of PEAC, AFT Connecticut President Palmer worked to ensure that the end result would be an evaluation system that is fair, reliable, and useful. "With the assistance of our national union, AFT, we were able to bring to the table concrete data and research to prove that standardized test scores are only effective as a small part of the evaluation process," said Palmer. "That evidence is reflected in the consensus we were able to build."

PEAC's recommendations will be the basis for guidelines that will advise school districts as they design local plans in collaboration with their local teachers unions. "This is exactly how we achieved the evaluation structure in New Haven which was a model for these guidelines," said Palmer. "Teachers have to be at the table for these discussions locally."

The State Department of Education (SDE) will provide a model, detailed template for districts that don’t have the capacity to design their own local plans. Districts that already have exceptional models, may receive a waiver from the SDE.

PEAC next meets on Feb. 6, to finalize their proposal before it is presented to the State Board of Education on Feb. 10.

PEAC is also working on administrator guidelines.

AFT CT (American Federation of Teachers Connecticut) is committed to improving the quality of education for every child in the state. Education reform issues like teacher tenure, teacher certification, teacher evaluations, early childhood education, charter schools, school funding and more need input from all educators. PreK-12 teachers, paraprofessionals and school related personnel are working every day to improve learning and help students to grow. From urban schools in Connecticut, such as Hartford, New Britain, New Haven and Meriden, to suburban schools, such as, Bloomfield, Simsbury and Waterford,  to regional school districts, our members are working to provide quality education.