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NJ Spotlight -New Rules Continue Shift in What State Requires for Educator Training…Education department updates guidelines for devising professional development plans for teachers and administrators
Star Ledger - N.J. Assembly to hold hearing on questionable spending at private special-needs schools
Star Ledger - Report: One-quarter of N.J. teachers rated below levels needed to keep tenure…” The report chronicles the state’s testing of the new evaluation system, which is being used in every school district this year. Dorothy Strickland, retired professor of Rutgers University and a member of the state board of education, said she is optimistic about the findings, which show the majority of teachers, three-quarters, were rated at the levels required to retain their tenure…”
NJ Spotlight -New Rules Continue Shift in What State Requires for Educator Training…Education department updates guidelines for devising professional development plans for teachers and administrators
John Mooney | December 4, 2013
New guidelines for ongoing training of principals and superintendents – including a revised chain of command for who signs off on the professional development plans -- were sent to school districts yesterday by the state Department of Education.
It’s the latest step in the state’s move toward revamping the way it monitors its teachers and school administrators, both in how they are evaluated and how they receive ongoing training.
In mid-November, the state also released guidelines for professional development requirements for teachers, including those deemed in need of “corrective action plans” under the new evaluations required in the state’s tenure-reform law, TEACHNJ.
For both teachers and administrators, the latest guidelines provide few surprises, as many of the changes were included in new regulations approved by the State Board of Education earlier this year.
The most notable change for teachers is a move away from the state’s decade-old requirement of 100 hours of approved professional development every five years. The Christie administration is instead splitting that into 20 hours a year and focusing on more collaborative approaches, officials said.
Still, the guidelines also lay out specifics about how the rules are to be put in place on the ground, setting in motion the development by individual school districts of plans for their own employees.
“After all these many months, we’re pleased that these guidelines are finally out, and districts can start developing their plans,” said Richard Bozza, executive director of the New Jersey Association of School Administrators, which represents the state’s 500-plus superintendents.
The leader of the state’s principals group said she, too, was glad that the state was turning its attention to helping teachers and principals improve, and not just evaluating them.
The state’s school districts are in the throes of implementing a new evaluation system that will measure teachers and principals on a four-point scale, ranging from “ineffective” to “highly effective.”
“It’s good that we’re looking at the professional development side of this,” said Patricia Wright, director of the New Jersey Principals and Supervisors Association.
“There are so many things happening right now that require intensive professional learning, and we’re going to have to do a lot of work in New Jersey to come up with ways to providing this (training).”
There are certainly some concerns about the new rules.
Bozza, of the school administrators group, said he had unsuccessfully pressed the state to maintain the current structure in which superintendents work with peers to develop their goals for professional growth.
The state’s guidelines now call for those plans to be developed with and approved by local school boards.
For school principals, one of the biggest changes is a shift from three-year plans to an annual professional development plan.
Wright said she hoped for more emphasis on collaborative approaches and not just having educators doing professional development on their own. She cited the increasing use of videotaped lessons as training tools, and said that would be inadequate.
“We need for the collaborative part of the job to be embedded in the professional learning,” she said. ‘We can’t move away from that, and I don’t think we have gone far enough. It is needed more now than ever.”
Teachers will also being seeing some significant changes, with corrective plans now required for those who are rated “ineffective” or “partially effective.” It also sets some parameters for teachers found to be “effective” or “highly effective,” saying that their training can shift more toward leadership or coaching roles.
Michael Cohan, professional development director for the New Jersey Education Association, said he is sorry that the new rules spell the end of professional development committees that were previously in place in every district and school.
Each teacher’s professional development plan will now be decided by the teacher’s direct supervisors.
“That has really changed the whole dynamics,” he said. “If they are fully engaged with the teacher, that won’t be a big change. But if they are seeing this as another requirement and mandate, that changes the whole thing.”
Star Ledger - N.J. Assembly to hold hearing on questionable spending at private special-needs schools
By Christopher Baxter/The Star-Ledger The Star-Ledger
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on December 03, 2013 at 2:33 PM, updated December 03, 2013 at 2:39 PM
TRENTON — The state Assembly will hold a hearing this month on how to eliminate questionable spending of taxpayer money at New Jersey's private schools for students with disabilities.
Assemblyman Patrick Diegnan (D-Middlesex), chairman of the lower house's Education Committee, said today he will hear from the state Department of Education and others at the panel's Dec. 16 meeting to seek ways to improve transparency and accountability at the schools.
The hearing comes as a response to a Star-Ledger investigation last month that found the schools, which number about 180, were able to spend taxpayer money in ways public schools cannot, fueling nepotism, high salaries, generous pensions, fancy cars and questionable business deals.
Although the schools are privately owned and operated, the investigation found, they are almost entirely paid for by the public.
"These schools do great things but obviously we want to be certain there is appropriate regulations and transparency put in place," Diegnan said. "No one wants to be part of a process that has any ethical questions about it."
He added, "I haven't gotten a big push back from anybody about putting in place reasonable regulation."
In response to the newspaper's review, the state's leading Democrats — Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester) and Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver (D-Essex) — have pledged to support changes to eliminate wasteful spending.
And Gov. Chris Christie has ordered Education Commissioner Christopher Cerf to review spending at the schools to determine if changes to the system are needed.
Star Ledger - Report: One-quarter of N.J. teachers rated below levels needed to keep tenure…” The report chronicles the state’s testing of the new evaluation system, which is being used in every school district this year. Dorothy Strickland, retired professor of Rutgers University and a member of the state board of education, said she is optimistic about the findings, which show the majority of teachers, three-quarters, were rated at the levels required to retain their tenure…”
By Peggy McGlone The Star-Ledger Email the author | Follow on Twitter on December 04, 2013 at 6:45 AM
More than a quarter of teachers who were reviewed in a two-year pilot program of the state’s new evaluation system were rated only "partially effective" or worse, levels that place their tenure at risk, according to a new report.
Early results of the controversial teacher evaluations will be discussed in Trenton today, when the Evaluation Pilot Advisory Committee’s report is presented at the monthly state Board of Education meeting.
The report chronicles the state’s testing of the new evaluation system, which is being used in every school district this year.
Dorothy Strickland, retired professor of Rutgers University and a member of the state board of education, said she is optimistic about the findings, which show the majority of teachers, three-quarters, were rated at the levels required to retain their tenure.
"The report, and the process, is largely positive and hopeful," Strickland, who also served on the advisory committee, said. "It’s a challenge for everyone, at a pedagogical level and at an emotional level."
The pilot program involved more than 7,300 teachers in 219 schools in 30 districts around the state. While small, the sample included the large urban district of Elizabeth, suburban systems like Piscataway and Rockaway Township, and small districts like Alexandria Township.
The teacher evaluation process is the keystone of the TEACHNJ teacher tenure reform law signed by Gov. Chris Christie last year. The new system is based on classroom observation, student goals and standardized tests scores.
The ratings categories are divided into four levels: ineffective, partially effective, effective and highly effective. The data show that 3 percent of the teachers who were evaluated in both years of the pilot program received a rating of ineffective, the lowest, while 25 percent were rated partially effective.
TENURE AT RISK
In the group that was evaluated for one year, 1 percent was deemed ineffective, 13 percent partially effective, 82 percent were effective and 4 percent were highly effective. Teachers who receive ineffective or partially effective ratings for two consecutive years are at risk of losing tenure.
The difference between the two groups is thought to be the result of familiarity with the system, according to the report.
"With time, greater understanding of the observation framework and more practice, observers will increase their ability to identify nuances in teacher practice," the report states.
Sen. Teresa Ruiz (D-Newark), sponsor of the TEACHNJ, said while she had not yet seen the report, she was not surprised to learn of the overwhelmingly positive teacher ratings.
"It seems to indicate one thing we already knew: We have extraordinary professionals teaching our children," Ruiz said, adding that the evaluations were intended to support teachers and improve classroom learning.
FOCUS ON GROWTH
The new evaluations are based on a combination of teacher practice and student achievement, which includes the controversial use of standardized test scores. A formula known as the "student growth percentile" uses test data to measure student growth from one year to the next. This formula can account for up to 35 percent of a teacher’s rating.
The report also details the changes made to the evaluation system as it was being tested. For example, the committee tinkered with number of categories used to record classroom observation in the first year of the program. It also adjusted the number of pre-announced and unannounced classroom visits based on teacher experience.
"The teachers, principals, supervisors, superintendents on this committee, they had a lot to say and they were listened to," Strickland said.
COMPLEX SYSTEM
The report depicts a complicated and time-consuming system that combines uniform standards with some flexibility for implementation. The committee noted the flexibility was imperative "in a state with over 590 school districts, an incredible diversity of schools, students, and teachers, troubling socioeconomic inequality and a significant student achievement gap."
Strickland said she expects the process to continue to change and adapt to feedback from the schools.
"The process is still unnerving for people, and they are a little, or perhaps more than a little suspicious of the state," she said. "But I’m excited about the possibilities."
