Bridgewater-Raritan Teachers Are 'Highly Effective,' New Rankings Say

BRIDGEWATER, NJ — The state Department of Education has some good news for parents with students in the Bridgewater-Raritan Regional School District.

More than half of the district's 758 teachers received "highly effective" ratings, according to the state Department of Education's staff evaluations based on the 2015-2016 school year.

Teachers and staff across the state are graded and categorized as “highly effective,” “effective," "partially effective" and "ineffective." Results were released last week.

Out of 758 total teachers, 439 were found to be “highly effective.” Another 316 were found to be “effective,” with no data provided for the other two categories. There are 19 principals, assistant principals and vice principals in the district, with 16 of those rated "highly effective."

The district’s ratio of "highly effective" teachers came out to be nearly 5.1, and it was ranked 182nd out of 496 districts on Patch’s list, which is based on number of teachers per 100 students. (See the full list here.)

Nearly two-thirds of the state’s 112,000 teachers were found to be “effective” and another third were “highly effective,” according to a report from NJ Spotlight.

State law requires each district to use a standardized system to evaluate teacher performance based on classroom observation and a form of student performance. It has been in effect since the State Legislature passed a tenure system five years ago to determine the strongest and weakest teachers in the state.

(Image via Shutterstock)

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