Teachers still in shock over being evaluated by their colleagues’ scores

We just got this tip from a sixth-year high school teacher in the city:

I was wondering if you were interested in doing a story on the new teacher eval system as it relates to foreign language, art, and gym teachers. Being that I’m a Spanish teacher and have no state assessments that can be used to measure my effectiveness as a teacher, 40% of my rating is based on how Juniors do on the English Regents. Not only do I not teach English, I have never taught the Junior class before.

The teacher is in luck: We published a story on exactly this counterintuitive feature of the city’s new teacher evaluation system last month. 

“It’s insane to me that 40 percent of my evaluation is going to be based on someone else’s work,” Jason Zanitsch, a high school drama teacher, told us at the time.