Locals begin to tackle APPR reforms

ong-awaited Annual Professional Performance Review reforms went into effect in March, and districts can begin to negotiate new performance review plans immediately. That means in the near future, punitive APPR plans will be a thing of the past.

“We’re excited to be able to create our own plan, instead of having it be the state-mandated plan,” said John Hines, president of the Cornwall Central Teachers Association. “We’re looking to make it a meaningful process for both teachers and the administrators who are evaluating us.”

Hines began conversations with Cornwall administration about adopting a new review system right after the new evaluation system was signed into law in June 2024 but wanted to wait for additional guidance from the State Education Department before beginning discussions in earnest.

“Now that they have their guidelines out, we’re really starting to think about it,” Hines said. SED issued guidance in March to help districts create their new Standards-based Educator Evaluation and Professional Support system or STEPS Plan.

STEPS Plans will be different from the old APPR system in several key ways. First and foremost, the new system must be locally developed and bargained collectively with locals. The new system also decouples teacher evaluations from student performance measures like test scores, and districts may now grant tenure irrespective of the APPR scores awarded to probationary teachers.

Additionally, the previously used HEDI rating bands — Highly Effective, Effective, Developing, Ineffective — will be replaced with a number system, and districts can also set different observation and evaluation requirements for probationary and tenured teachers.

“Teachers in their first through fourth years are going to have different needs and are going to need different support than a teacher who’s in their 22nd year. I think that’s the piece that we are probably most excited to consider, a differentiated evaluation structure to more authentically meet the needs of practitioners in their professional growth,” said Laura Franz, president of the Albany Public School TA. Franz said her local’s Professional Review Committee is meeting with district administration, with the goal of having a plan to submit by January 2026.

“We’re getting ready to work on our APPR plan,” said Laura Beck, president of the Orange County BOCES TA. To help prepare, Beck sat in on an APPR training session at NYSUT’s annual Representative Assembly in May. “It was good to learn what other locals are doing,” Beck said. “There’s definitely a lot of variety.”

Once a plan for evaluations has been developed, it must be submitted to NYSED for approval. SED has officially opened the plan submission portal and is asking districts that are ready to start the process of transitioning to a new plan to email educatoreval@nysed.gov so that SED staff can have a preliminary conversation about the new plan and how it will adhere to the statute and regulations. New plans need to be in place by the end of the 2031–2032 school year. For more info, visit nysut.org/appr.