Teacher and Principal Evaluation Policy
The data and analysis on this page is from 2019. View and download the most recent policy data and analysis on Principal Effectiveness in New York from the State of the States 2022: Teacher and Principal Evaluation Policies report.
Objective Student Growth Measures: New York requires student performance to play a role in a principal's evaluation rating; a matrix determines the overall rating.
Link to Teacher Effectiveness/Instructional Leadership: New York state policy does not explicitly link principal evaluations and teacher effectiveness/instructional leadership.
Improvement Plans: New York requires an improvement plan for all principals who receive a rating of developing or ineffective.
Surveys: New York explicitly prohibits the inclusion of parent or student feedback for the purposes of principal evaluation.
Make an explicit link between principal evaluation and teacher effectiveness/instructional leadership.
Because the time principals spend on organizational management, instructional programming, and teacher evaluation is critically important for positive effects on both teachers and students, New York should evaluate its principals—to some degree—on teacher effectiveness and instructional leadership.
Require or explicitly allow surveys.
New York should require—or at the very least, explicitly allow—survey data to be included in a principal's evaluation rating. These data could be derived from school climate, teacher, student, or school community surveys and are necessary to provide data about a principal's overall leadership of the school community.
New York asserted that its principal evaluations are aligned with the 2008 Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium (ISSLC) standards, which are referred to as "leadership standards" in Section 30-3 of the Rules of the Board of Regents. "Some of these standards are very closely related to staff development and instructional leadership. This fall, the New York State Education Department plans to present to the Board of Regents a proposed amendment to adopt the Professional Standards for Educational Leaders for principals."
7G: Principal Effectiveness
Research demonstrates that there is a clear link between school leadership and school outcomes.[1] Principals foster school improvement by shaping school goals, policies and practices, and social and organizational structures.[2] Principals vary significantly in their effectiveness, and research suggests that high-quality principals positively affect student achievement, in-school discipline, parents' perceptions of schools, and school climates.[3] Further, principals affect teacher retention and recruitment;[4] effective principals are more adept at retaining effective teachers and removing ineffective teachers.[5] The time principals spend on organizational management, instructional programming, and teacher evaluation is critically important for positive effects on teachers and students.[6] Because principals are an essential component of creating successful schools, their effectiveness should be regularly evaluated by trained evaluators on systems that include objective measures. Such systems will help to ensure that all principals receive the feedback and support necessary to improve their practice and, ultimately, student and school outcomes.