By Senior Correspondent Desirée Taylor
NJ Today
In order to ensure teachers and principals are making the grade, the Christie administration is proposing a new teacher evaluation system. Effectiveness will be measured on improved student learning, including test scores, as well as observations of teachers in the classroom. “We are committed to developing an educator evaluation system that honors our educators’ achievements and ensures that they have the tools they need to continuously improve and help all of our students succeed,” said New Jersey Education Commissioner Christopher Cerf.
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The New Jersey Education Association, the state’s largest teacher’s union, shares this goal. And it supports the plan to observe teachers in the classroom. But spokesperson Steve Wollmer takes issue with the proposed rules that call for 35 percent of teacher evaluations to be based on test scores. This would only apply to teachers who teach subjects and grades that require tests. Other measures such as a portfolio of student work or other tests would account for 15 percent of the evaluations. The remaining 50 percent would be based on observations. “The chief concerns with these regulations is that there’s an over reliance on standardized tests,” said Steve Wollmer, NJEA Director of Communications. “All the research that’s available says do not evaluate and do not make high stakes personnel decisions like paying people and firing people based on student test scores.”
But the education commissioner says tests scores will play a minimal part of the evaluation system. “There seems to be a core of individuals who are not able to absorb the actual facts of this,” said Commisioner Cerf. “We’re using tests in a comparative minimum way …. that we’re implementing this over a substantial period of time.”
Cerf says the primary goal of these new evaluation systems is to create professional development opportunities that are uniquely tailored to educators. And he points out that teachers and principals have been engaged in all steps of the planning and implementation of AchieveNJ.
In order to raise public awareness about the proposed rules, the Department of Education will host presentations at locations across the state over the next several weeks. Dates and locations are listed on the state website. The goal is to approve final rules and implement them by the fall.