APPR, Teacher Qualifications & Evaluations

Annual Professional Performance Review (APPR) | Teacher Qualifications (ESSA)

Annual Professional Performance Review (APPR)

Annual Professional Performance Review (APPR) is the process by which teachers and principals are evaluated in New York State. The purpose of APPR is to empower educators to improve the quality of instruction in schools and, in turn, to improve students’ performance and readiness for colleges and careers. APPR plans must meet strict state guidelines and are negotiated with local unions.

Under state guidelines, APPR takes into account classroom observations, student test scores, and a variety of achievement and assessment measures – many of which are decided at the local level. Teachers and principals across New York ultimately receive a number grade every year, which equates to an effectiveness rating.

View the Cohoes CSD APPR Plan on the NYSED website.

Requesting Teacher/Principal APPR Scores

All parents/guardians have the right to obtain the APPR quality ratings and composite effectiveness scores for their child’s current teacher(s) and principal(s) by making a request through the building principal and/or superintendent’s office.

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Teacher Qualifications (ESSA)

The Cohoes City School District has been identified as a “target district” under the federal Every Student Succeeds (ESSA) Act and New York’s ESSA plan. Our “target district” designation does not imply low achievement for our schools or school district. Cohoes was named a “target district” because it was previously identified as a “focus district” during the 2017-2018 school year and has three current high school subgroups – All Students, Black or African American and Economically Disadvantaged – identified as Target Support and Improvement (TSI) subgroups.

A district-wide committee will develop a comprehensive plan to improve student learning. The process will engage parents, staff and students.

For more information on ESSA, please review the Fact Sheet for Parents (via NYSED).

All Cohoes schools recognized as ‘in good standing’

All Cohoes schools were listed in “good standing” under Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), the successor to the No Child Left Behind Act.

New York now uses multiple indicators of success to measure school/district performance and to identify those that need additional support. Under ESSA, schools receive annual ratings for subgroups of 30 or more students in the areas of academic achievement, student growth, graduation rate, student progress, English language proficiency, chronic absenteeism, and college, career and civic readiness.

All students are categorized into at least two of nine identifying subgroups: All Students, American Indian or Native American, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian or Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander, White, Multiracial, English Language Learner, Students with Disabilities, Economically Disadvantaged.

There must be 30 students to count toward a subgroup. However, one student can be counted multiple times toward a subgroup as each state assessment a student has taken is recorded rather than the individual student themselves.

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