Programs that entail peer review as well as peer assistance are often more controversial than those that entail peer assistance only. This is because they involve the local affiliate and some of its members in making recommendations to school districts about whether beginning and new district teachers and veteran teachers experiencing serious difficulties with their teaching will remain employed in their current job. The more controversial nature of peer assistance and review programs may require a lengthier period of studying how different programs work and more extensive dialogue with the local affiliate's members and the school district before they can be adopted. Guiding Principles Peer assistance and review is primarily a professional development strategy to improve teacher quality. Peer assistance and review is a component of New Unionism.
New Unionism is more than peer assistance and review.
Any affiliate interested in implementing peer assistance and review needs to first rigorously assess its readiness to do so. Members of any local affiliate considering peer assistance and review need to share a common understanding of what peer assistance and review is all about. Strategies related to bargaining and legislating peer assistance and review need to be flexible enough to accommodate the needs of widely differing affiliates. Any peer assistance and review program should be voluntarily undertaken and not imposed upon an NEA local affiliate. Peer assistance and review needs to be locally determined and locally driven.