New Jersey Launches Pilot Teacher Evaluation Program, Equally Weighing Tests And Class Success

New Jersey launches a pilot program today that will evaluate teachers at 10 schools by equally weighing a student's academic and classroom performance.

In a guest column published in the Star-Ledger Thursday, New Jersey acting Commissioner of Education Chris Cerf writes that about half of a teacher's evaluation will come from student "learning outcomes" like progress on standardized test scores.

"To avoid penalizing teachers who work with our highest-need students, evaluation criteria should be based on student progress and not absolute performance," Cerf writes.

The scale for grading teachers will shift from the previous "satisfactory" or "unsatisfactory" to a four-tiered system of "ineffective," "partially effective," "effective" and "highly effective."

The New Jersey Department of Education aims to have the new evaluation system in schools statewide by next fall, changing teachers' tenure and salaries under an education reform plan that Gov. Chris Christie is advocating for, according to the Star-Ledger.

But many are unconvinced that the pilot program will work. Rosemary Knab, Ph.D., associate director of Research and Economic Services for the New Jersey Education Association, told NorthJersey.com that the pilot evaluation program still places too heavy an emphasis on standardized tests.

"If you ask experts, these tests were never meant to be used in this way," Knab said.

Not only were they not designed that way, others like Manchester Board of Education President Donald Webster say the tests are "poorly designed."

"They neither provide districts with a true picture of where our students stand academically nor do they give us information as to where they are deficient," Webster wrote in a letter to Christie on the governor's education reform stance, published by Manchester, N.J. Patch. "Attempting to use the current/similar tests to evaluate teacher performance seems to me to be unreliable and unworkable."

Still, the system is a work in progress.

"This pilot is an opportunity for teachers and administrators across the state to work together to design and implement a new evaluation system," Cerf writes in the Star-Ledger. "Teachers will have a crucial voice in developing the new framework."

Comments

[bteach]

08:40 PM on 09/04/2011

So is every subject going to have a high stakes test at every grade level? Does the general public think they already do?

[mathecon]

11:15 AM on 09/02/2011

Please watch the video above with cute, young, blonde talk about "going forward" and "informing curriculum design", and "feedback".

Slogans. Pure baloney.

What our schools need is less eye candy like this lady, and a couple thousand capable math and physics teachers.

We have too many non-essential, skill lacking, talking heads.

All we need is more good math and science teachers.

That is ALL WE NEED.

[mathecon]

11:04 AM on 09/02/2011

Just an analogy:

We HAVE to build SOMETHING.

So what if our levels are perhaps incorrect.

It is better to build SOMETHING THAN NOTHING AT ALL.

Another analogy.

You need a new pair of pants.

You go to the outlet malls.

The only size is xxxxxxxxxxlarge.

You HAVE TO BUY SOMETHING.

Not doing anything would be worse.

So you buy them.

Now, listen to the carpetbagging edu-reformers.

They say they same thing. But this time the stakes are higher: YOUR CHILD"S FUTURE.

I suggest you exercise your choice and get your children to better schools. Ignore the edu-reformers. They are not interested in you or your children. They are purely in this thing for themselves.

Is it always better to do something really STUPID than nothing at all?

[mathecon]

11:00 AM on 09/02/2011

To Parents,

Most school districts now have at least ten years of testing data on your child.

That testing data IS GOLD.

Everyone wants it: The testing industry; The conservative think tank industry; The military; Colleges, Private employers.

And best of all: THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.

You bet. They want that data so they can figure out if your child should get that first job at the hardware store.

Private employers want MORE RELIABLE INDICATORS of job performance, and they think that 10-12 years of testing data provides that.

They are right now lobbying for that information to be released.

So I ask you one important question. Is that how you want your child treated?

And if you accept the guarantee of the government that they will NEVER release the data, then think closely about Wiki-Leaks.

All it takes is one good bribe, of the right person, to get them to push ONE button to release that data.

Parents, think about it, NOW.

[hamtol]

01:01 AM on 09/02/2011

My point is: When are the "experts" going to stop making teachers responsible/accountable for things that are totally beyond their control?
Just Wondering

[Allthosewhowander]

12:30 PM on 09/02/2011

As long as there is profit to be made by the testing and curriculum companies, teachers will be the scapegoats of the "movement". Many administrators will throw a teacher under the bus rather than have any negative reflection on their incompetent leadership, as is the case with my current administrator. The public and media will continue to vilify teachers. Parents will continue to not take any responsibility for their students, and society will continue to ignore the affects of poverty and neglect on the learning environment. Its sad really. I know how much I love teaching, and how much impact I have had on learning and social growth in the tough neighborhood, in which, I teach. I know how much I am valued by some families, and how much my involvement in community advocacy and outreach means to lots of people. To people who are only looking for quantifiable data numbers and those who know nothing about quality instruction and teacher effectiveness, there is no perceived value in those things.

[hamtol]

01:01 AM on 09/02/2011

Part 2 of 2
E) Or that since I am usually in my classroom for 2 hours after the school day has ended, Johnnie should come in for extra help, because I'm staying after school praying that Johnnie will come and get the help he needs? Never mind the fact that I already talked to both Johnnie and his parents, and Johnnie knows that he is to come see me, but he'd rather go to football, basketball, baseball. or wrestling practice than come see me for an hour of tutoring? Not to mention the fact that his missing the sessions is encouraged by his coaches? That is until theu discover that he has an "F" on a progress or grade report, then they want us to make a miracle happen so he'll be eligible to play.

F) Or that Johnnie missed 25 days of school (unexcused), and nothing was done. Truancy Officers are a thing of the past, and most parents are too busy working to check up on him the way they need to. I'm not saying punish the parent because Johnnie decided not to come to school, but make the parents take some sort of action.

G) Or that Johnnie was up all night partying, working, parenting younger siblings, or a child of his/her own (and yes, there are some single fathers out there who have their kids)? And because of this, he can't keep his eyes open in class?

[hamtol]

12:48 AM on 09/02/2011

Part 1 of 2
Will there ever be school/education reform that includes parent AND student accountability? It seems that all the "experts" know that Johnnie can't read, and put the blame squarely AND solely on the teachers. How many of these so-called experts have spent more than 2-5 years at the "blackboard"? When will the so-called experts learn what we in the classroom everyday already know?

A) Namely that more than half the time, Johnnie can read (and reads very well). but decided that he isn't interested in reading, so he doesn't do the tests?

B) Or, Johnnie discovered that all he needs to get into the college of his choice is an ACT composite of 18 or 20, so that's all he tries to get on the test (and usually succeeds in getting it)?

C) Or that even though we KNOW that Johnnie should fail a class (he has a 22 average-not because he cannot do the work, but because he's not interested in doing it), we are pressured by principles to pass him? (And then they have the unmitigated gall to blame the teacher for his poor scores?)

D) Or we are told that the fact that Johnnie is unmotivated to learn is OUR fault? (What happened to teaching children that motivation should come from within? Or that they are ultimately responsible for their learning? Or simply teaching Johnnie to be accountable for his actions?

[Southsidemom]

07:34 PM on 09/01/2011

How about we turn this thing around and get to the same place: VIVA Project teachers say fine, use the standardized test but spend a lot more time and attention on how to measure performance in the classroom. How? Check out their specific ideas at www.vivateachers.org Starting with the classroom puts the standardized test in context and gives us all--teachers, parents, public--better information about what effective teaching looks like. Time to put teaching and learning at the center.

[DrKatePhD]

06:46 PM on 09/01/2011

There is still too much emphasis on tests that are inaccurate, unfair, don't assess what is learned or what a child actually knows; doesn't show what a child has learned or can perform, AND can't be used to improve instruction less to teach more to the test. This is just another way to unpay and privatize education.

[sherpeace]

04:47 PM on 09/01/2011

But how will they evaluate student progress IN the classroom? More test scores?

[LuvRed14]

04:05 PM on 09/01/2011

What society is seeking is quality assurance in the classroom. QA's for teachers is coming. There will be a time when there is a slueth camera in every classroom, and somewhere someone will be watching teaching in real time, so that real evaluation can take place. Anyhoot, that a far off future until then the system does not have the manpower to do real evaluation over a period of time. Educators, what types of evaluations do you think are fair for teachers?

[Southsidemom]

07:30 PM on 09/01/2011

VIVA Project teachers in New York put together a detailed outline of an approach to teacher evaluation that they think would both help them plan their lessons to maximize student skill building and to help them continue to improve their practice. Take a look www.vivateachers.org

[kitkat7]

01:46 AM on 09/02/2011

I'm an eleven-year education veteran, and I'd welcome a camera in my classroom over basing my supposed worth as a teacher on a once-a-year student test. And keep it on 24 hours a day so that you see me coming in early to help students who need tutoring and see me staying late to enrich the curriculum through the after-school robotics club that I have spent up to 500 extra man-hours on each Fall with absolutely no extra compensation from my district. Not to mention Science Fair (local, regional, and state each year) and Student Council and National Junior Honor Society which I have sponsored or co-sponsored at various points (again, with no extra compensation). So, yeah... evaluate me real time. And all my colleauges. I think you'd find that you're getting far more value for your 7.5 hours a day than you might expect...

[Dede Eagleburger]

03:38 PM on 09/01/2011

What it's saying, is that while this is a step in the right direction, it's not going far enough.