February
Treasurer Report 2/22
SHEA VOICE
2023-2024
Spring 2024
March-April
Volume XVI No. 4
David Etkin,
Editor
President's Message:
Happy Spring SHEA Members -
We are pleased to announce that SHEA has successfully negotiated with the District new parameters for Annual Professional Performance Review. Since the pandemic, the state has waffled on what, if anything, was required locally for district-wide measures and individual teacher evaluations.
Let’s take a step back. Hey, ChatGPT: “write a one paragraph summary of New York State's APPR for teachers; include the year it was adopted.”
New York State's Annual Professional Performance Review (APPR) system for teachers, adopted in 2012 under legislation known as 3012d, is a multifaceted evaluation framework aimed at assessing and improving educator effectiveness. Combining various metrics such as classroom observations, student achievement data, and locally chosen assessments, the APPR offers a holistic view of teacher performance. By providing constructive feedback, supporting professional development, and emphasizing accountability, this system strives to enhance teaching quality and ultimately elevate student learning outcomes statewide.
In theory, this is all correct! Sweet Home has used two different rubric models over the years, Marzano’s and more recently, Danielleson’s. These models include HEDI scores to which teachers were evaluated at Highly Effective, Effective, Developing, and Needs Improvement. SHEA members have consistently done very well over the years and our staff as a whole is highly effective. Our new agreement with the District has resulted in altering how we measure the entire district as it relates to student achievement. Since we all contribute in some fashion to student graduation, focusing on the Regents exams required to graduate makes the most sense for our organization to use the average score of those test results. The Association believes this is the most fair and effective way to measure student achievement across such a wide spectrum of PreK-12 students. You can review more information and details on SHEA’s website.
NYSUT is working toward new APPR parameters as well. This spring, NYSUT launched a campaign across the state to lobby state legislators and the Department of Education.
By March 20, 2024 this was announced:
Albany, New York – Today, the New York State Educational Conference Board and New York State Education Department announced an extraordinary agreement on legislation to rewrite the state’s poorly designed teacher evaluation system that was imposed in 2010.
A result of collaborative communication among organizations and state leaders who care deeply about public education, the proposal was hand-delivered by NYSUT President Melinda Person and NYSED Commissioner Betty Rosa to the offices of the Legislature’s education leaders.
The legislation, which was crafted by educators, superintendents, school boards, administrators, parents and principals, returns the Annual Professional Performance Review (APPR) system to local control and creates a system for measuring teacher and principal accountability that focuses on professional development and support, rather than an over-emphasis on testing.
Education chairs Sen. Shelley Mayer and Assemblymember Michael Benedetto congratulated the collective for reaching agreement and pledged their attention to the bill during this year’s legislative session.
New York State Education Commissioner Betty A. Rosa said:
“We owe it to our students, teachers, parents, and families to work together to develop a comprehensive and sustainable teacher evaluation system that meets the needs of all of our school communities across the state. Our focus is squarely on developing a system of continuous growth and development of teachers and principals that fosters meaningful teaching and learning, empowering educators to excel and students to thrive. This proposed legislation, created with and for those impacted, is intended to accomplish that purpose.”
NYSUT President Melinda Person said:
“Teachers welcome fair evaluations that are designed to help them hone their teaching skills and better serve students. Returning teacher evaluations to local control allows educators to again put the emphasis back on what matters most in our classrooms — teaching and learning. I want to acknowledge the tremendous collaboration that happened between all the different stakeholder groups who sat at the table and worked out the details of this almost 50-page bill. If you value the love of teaching and learning in our public schools, if you think our educators should be treated like the professionals they are, if you think that teaching to standardized tests has gone too far, then this is a great day.”
Locally, this means that SHEA will get back to work on APPR so that we can have a meaningful process that provides a system for professionals to grow and be evaluated.
Paul Szymendera
Sweet Home Teachers Plan Trip to Ghana
by Amy Wallace; Amherst Bee
Two families from Ghana, Africa, are making an impact on students and teachers at an elementary school in the Sweet Home Central School District.
Teachers at Heritage Heights Elementary School have worked with students whose parents were from Ghana, and through that relationship, a cross-cultural trip of a lifetime is being planned.
"I was working with a student last year from Ghana," second grade teacher Jill Grugnale said. "there are two families; the mothers are sisters who have multiple children at Heritage Heights." Over the past few years, Grugnale said the teachers have built a relationship with the families and have had the children in several classes.
"The mothers' aunt owns an international school in Ghana," Grugnale said. "They shared the idea of doing a trip to see how the schools work in Ghana.
The school, the Merton International School, is a private school in Ghana. On June 28, six teachers from Heritage Heights Elementary will travel to Ghana to tour the Merton International School along with a government-run public school, which is vastly different.
"The students at the government school only go to school for a half-day and must carry their chair and desk on their backs as they walk to and from school," Grugnale said. "Most don't actually make it past the sixth grade."
The trip is part of the Ghana Educational Outreach program that the teachers have developed and is designed to help educators learn about where their students come from and how their lives were in their home country.
Grugnale said that Heritage Heights Elementary School is a melting pot of cultures.
"We have kiddos from over 50 countries at our school," Grugnale said. "Learning about where our kiddos are coming from makes us better teachers."
The teacher are funding the trip themselves with the help of donations; the school district is not paying for anything. they are planning to collect items to send to the public school in Ghana, such as school supplies, backpacks, hygiene products and shoes for the children.
The teachers are in the process of fundraising for the trip and collecting donation for the students in Ghana.
"We are looking for help from the NFL and possibly Chance the Rapper," Grugnale said. "Chance the Rapper is from Ghana. Our music teacher is going on the trip, and he rewrote one of his songs that the kids recorded and we're trying to get that to him."
The school has many fundraising events coming up to make this trip possible, including Ghana Grooves and Yoga Moves with registration from 5:30-6 p.m. and the class from 6 to 7 p.m. on April 24 at Heritage Heights Elementary School, 2545 Sweet Home Road. A minimum $5 per person donation is requested.
They are also holding a community scavenger hunt from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday May 4, at the school. The cost is $30 per carload and preregistration is required.
"This is our first year, so there's been a lot of stumbling blocks," kindergarten teacher Mary Rao said.
For more information or to make a donation contact Grugnale at jgrugnale@sweethomeschools.org or send donation to Heritage Heights Elementary, Attn: Mary Rao, 2545 Sweet Home Road, Amherst, NY 14228.
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Did you know...
SHEA Officer and Building Representative positions are two year terms
SHEA Elections are held in the "even" calendar years
The ratio of building representatives is 1:15. Each building minimally has a Senior Representative who attends both Executive Council and Representative Council. All other reps are Junior and only attend Representative Council.
Elections for Representative and Delegate positions such as NYSUT and AFT are held in "odd" calendar years.
Elections for NYSTRS Reps and Delegates are held every three years.
Did you know...
SHEA nominations are due by noon of the March Representative Council Meeting date.
If no one is nominated for any open position, then nominations are taken from the floor of Representative Council.
The High School and Middle School have two senior building reps that are required to attend both Executive and Representative Council meetings each month.
As with any position, two-envelop ballots take place for elections and the top voter get the Senior Representative position.
