Schools To Implement Performance Review
By Stephanie Mariel Petrellese

The Garden City Board of Education approved a new plan for staff evaluations at its meeting on August 13th.

Fino Celano, assistant superintendent for personnel, gave the Board and public an overview of the Annual Professional Performance Review (APPR) plan. A committee comprised of administrators, teachers and parents established the new guidelines for observations and the evaluation of professional staff during the 2006/07 school year. The plan will now be implemented in September.

"It is the firm hope of the committee that the APPR plan will help to facilitate the one overriding objective we all share: the successful social, intellectual and emotional growth of our students," reads the plan's introduction.

One significant way the new plan differs from the old is that it sets separate criteria for the evaluation of Pupil Personnel Services staff, which includes guidance counselors, school psychologists, school social workers and school nurses.

"Our current plan did not differentiate, which I think was a problem because the role of a psychologist, for example, is very different from the role of a teacher and therefore the criteria by which we evaluate these professionals needs to be different and distinct," Celano said.

The plan is based on parameters outlined by the State Education Department and relies heavily on "Enhancing Professional Practice: A Framework for Teaching" by Charlotte Danielson. According to Celano, the book provides a cutting-edge model that defines the characteristics of effective teaching.

"We will see a higher level of consistency and expectations with this model," Celano explained.

Retired teacher Barbara Smith asked about performance reviews for administrators. Superintendent of Schools Dr. Robert Feirsen explained that he performs a comprehensive evaluation of administrators every year based on goals which can be found on the district's Web site. He is evaluated by the Board of Education. Smith said the Board should look into the possibility of also allowing teachers to evaluate administrators.