EE4NJ

Evaluation reform is one of the many issues facing teachers today. In the state of New Jersey that reform comes in the form of Excellent Educators for New Jersey (EE4NJ). This is a comprehensive teacher and principal evaluation system reform that began with a pilot program in the 2011-2012 school year. The goal of this new program is to provide meaningful data based feedback to teachers and school leaders to help them in their on-going effort to in increase student achievement. Feedback from the districts involved in the pilot program are aiding in this endeavor. The change stems from legislation that New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and his administration enacted to bring more accountability to teacher performance. Based on the information from the state Department of Education’s website, the priorities of the new evaluation system is to establish a “universal evaluation system that is based on common language and clear expectations, provide teachers with timely, actionable, and data-driven feedback that will support their growth”. The end game is to use these, as well as other, measures of performance data to eventually inform personnel decisions including tenure and compensation levels. Under the new evaluation system teachers’ areas in need of improvement will be determined on an individual basis, that information will in turn be used to guide individual professional development plans. The principal or supervisor will use the evaluation results in collaboration with the teacher to create this plan Some other requirements of the EE4NJ plan require that all districts form a district evaluation advisory committee, a school improvement panel, and adopt educator evaluation rubrics that include state-approved teacher and principal practice evaluation instruments (these must be research based and evidence supported). There is a list of approved evaluation instruments on the NJ Department of Education’s website. In an article written for NJ Spotlight John Mooney writes that state officials have received a range of reactions and mixed emotions from the educational community regarding the new process. “We’ve been talking about this for more than a year, but it's now becoming real to people,” said Debra Bradley, director of government relations for the principals group. Mooney also points out that “under new tenure reform legislation signed in August, a teacher’s tenure protections will hinge on how they fare in the evaluation” so despite the mixed feelings there is a commitment by the districts to be well prepared. New Jersey Education Association put out a news release where problems of the new program were discussed. Since the new system requires that up to 45 percent of a teacher’s evaluation be based on “measures of student achievement” improvements in being able to measure this area is critical. For standardized tests the state is currently piloting a growth model of student achievement, however there is no way to link a student to a particular teacher. Without being able to tie student achievement to a specific teacher, it will be difficult to include this as measure of teacher effectiveness. Another area of concern highlighted in this news release regards development of assessments for students in grades and subjects where standardized tests do not exist. The NJDOE reports that “teachers and administrators are not properly trained to design rigorous and high-quality assessments”. They plan to explore ways to support districts in the development of these assessments. Despite your stance on the issue the process is changing, and fast. The state is requiring full implementation for all districts beginning in the 2013-2014 school year (an extension was granted to ensure enough time is given to effectively implement new evaluation for teachers). There is much that needs to be done and very little time left before the process rolls out completely. The time has come for administrators and teachers across the state to get on board, or they’ll get left behind. For complete details and information regarding EE4NJ visit the website http://www.state.nj.us.