Teacher Evaluations

AFT on Nomination of Dr. Miguel Cardona as Education Secretary

Tue, 12/22/2020 - 3:00pm
WASHINGTON — American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten and AFT Connecticut President Jan Hochadel issued the following statement after President-elect Joe Biden nominated Miguel A. Cardona to be the next U.S. secretary of education:
 

Achieving More "Fair and Equitable Evaluation Practices"

Wed, 04/12/2017 - 3:30pm
State school officials last week took a major step toward empowering teachers to be more effective in the classroom by eliminating the use of mastery examination scores in educator evaluations. The move will benefit students by prioritizing instructional emphasis on deep issue knowledge and analytical skills over test preparation. The April 5 vote by the State Board of Education's (SBOE) followed years of advocacy by a diverse coalition of stakeholders, including AFT Connecticut-affiliated union members.
 

Comments on Court Decision in Historic State Education Funding Case

Wed, 09/07/2016 - 6:00pm
Jan Hochadel, president of AFT Connecticut, made the following remarks on today's Superior Court decision in Connecticut Coalition for Justice in Education Funding (CCJEF) v. Rell, which challenged the constitutionality of the state's PreK-12 finance system:
 

Comments on Lawmakers' Action to Decouple Standardized Tests from Teacher Evaluations

Fri, 03/18/2016 - 4:30pm
AFT Connecticut leaders made the following remarks on passage in the General Assembly’s education committee of legislation excluding student performance data on the Smarter Balanced Assessment (SBAC) from teacher performance assessments:
 

Every Student Succeeds Act Ushers in Sweeping Changes

Fri, 12/11/2015 - 4:30pm
President Barack Obama yesterday signed the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) into law, enacting the most positive changes in nearly two decades to Pre-K through college public education policy. The new law, which reauthorizes the Elementary and Secondary Elementary Education Act (ESEA), marks the end to the top-down accountability in place since the passage of No Child Left Behind (NCLB).
 
Click here for more on how the new law impacts states and local districts.
 

Comments on Release of Smarter Balanced Test Scores

Fri, 08/28/2015 - 2:00pm
Jan Hochadel, president of AFT Connecticut, made the following remarks in response to students' Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) standardized test scores released today by the state Department of Education (SDE):
 

Bipartisan ESEA Bill: A Step Forward

Thu, 04/09/2015 - 5:00pm
The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) reauthorization proposal announced this week shows that, even in the current climate, it's possible to find common ground by listening to teachers, parents and other voices in education. U.S. Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Patty Murray (D-Wash.) -- the chair and the ranking member, respectively, of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee -- on Tuesday unveiled a bipartisan bill reauthorizing the law, known in its current form as No Child Left Behind (NCLB).
 
Click here for a bill summary from the HELP Committee.
 

The Federal Education Department Got Teacher Prep Wrong

Sun, 12/21/2014 - 7:30pm
There are new proposed regulations out from the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) that focus on teacher preparation, and they’re not good. They use unreliable, out-of-context data like K-12 standardized test scores and employment numbers to punish teacher preparation programs.

 
Click here for press coverage of the proposed changes.
 

Teacher Prep Regulations Reinforce "Test-and-Punish" Model

Wed, 11/26/2014 - 5:00pm
There's no evidence that new teacher preparation regulations released Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) will lead to improvement and plenty of reason to believe they will cause harm, AFT President Randi Weingarten says.
 
Click here for the DOE's proposed regulation.
 

Coalition of Teachers, Parents and Education Leaders Release New Accountability Framework

Tue, 10/28/2014 - 5:00pm
A broad-based group of organizations today released "A New Social Compact for American Education" -- a groundbreaking rethinking of accountability that replaces the current paradigm of "test and punish" with a focus on what is needed to support and improve teaching and learning.
 
Click here to learn more about the new framework at the coalition's website.
 
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