BY JEFF CHUDZINSKI
North Country This Week

MASSENA — School board members along with the Massena Federation of Teachers and Massena Building Administrators Association have come to an agreement to modify existing memorandums of agreement related to professional performance reviews.

Officials say the changes come after state officials eliminated a state assessment exam for fourth-grade science.

Prior to the modification to the memorandum of agreement, 50% of evaluations for teachers and principals centered on student performance on Regents exams, as well as the state science assessments for students in grades four through eight.

Following the announcement of the elimination of the fourth-grade exam, Superintendent Pat Brady established a committee of stakeholders to assess the evaluation process.

Officials on the committee have now agreed that any further professional performance reviews will be based on Regents exams only.

“I think both the district, as well as the administration, working with teachers, leaders and administrative leaders, agreed that just focusing on the commencement Regents exam as a measure of performance would be the best way to make these changes,” Brady said.

All changes made required board approval with a revised plan also being submitted to the State Education Department.

Other criteria for teacher evaluations include principal observations, while principals are rated based on observation by the superintendent.