Nikhil Goyal

Articles

A Teenager Fights Back Against Teacher Evaluation Gone Wrong

Teen Nikhil Goyal refused to participate in New York Governor Andrew Cuomo's teacher evaluation scheme.


In February 2012, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, after a lengthy feud with the state teachers union, came to an agreement over a comprehensive teacher evaluation system for the state. The arrangement made New York State eligible to receive $700 million of "Race to the Top" funds, a national sweepstakes spearheaded by President Obama that allocated monies to states that adopted his education policies.

Under the new system known as the Annual Professional Performance Review, 40 percent of a teacher's evaluation would be based on standardized test scores, while the remaining 60 percent would be based on subjective measurements, like classroom observations and student surveys. Then, teachers would be sorted into four categories: ineffective, developing, effective, or highly effective.

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