State Releases New Teacher Evaluations For Newark

Can a teacher’s performance be ranked on a grade scale?

The NJ Department of Education thinks so.

The DOE released its first “Staff Evaluation” report on Wednesday, which attempts to assign the state’s licensed teachers one of four possible grades based on their performance for 2013-14:

• Ineffective
• Partially Effective
• Effective
• Highly Effective

The vast majority of teachers across the state – 97 percent – rated effective or highly effective, according to earlier evaluations released in June.

However, some 2,900 teachers across the state – providing instruction to more than 180,000 students that school year – were considered ineffective or partially effective, the DOE reported.

See the full database online here.

HOW DID YOUR TEACHERS RATE?

Here’s how selected teachers in Newark rated:

• Newark School District: 94 ineffective, 314 partially effective, 2,058 effective, 309 highly effective

Overall, Newark had 45 percent (94 out of 205) of the state’s “ineffective” teachers, the highest amount of any municipality in New Jersey.

• In addition, the state also released the ratings for Newark’s school administrators: 31 partially effective, 103 effective, 25 not rated

See the full listing by school online here.

HOW TEACHERS WERE EVALUATED

How did the DOE get their results? Many teachers had one, overwhelming criteria make or break their rating… the opinions of their bosses.

According to NJ.com:

“Most teachers’ evaluations were based on the following: 85 percent on observations by administrators and 15 percent on student growth on local tests, quizzes or other projects.”

“About 15 percent of teachers had their scores based 55 percent on observation, 15 percent on student progress on local tests and 30 percent on students’ annual improvement on state standardized tests.”

In addition, there were extensive redactions and data limitations. For example, the state didn’t release any statistics from schools that included less than 10 ranked teachers, leaving a significant chunk of schools without total disclosure.

ACHIEVE NJ

The evaluations are part of the new AchieveNJ evaluation system.

“The real story of the first year of AchieveNJ is that educators have risen to the challenge of improving feedback for all teachers and leaders,” stated Peter Shulman, the NJDOE’s Assistant Commissioner of Education and Chief Talent Officer.

“While one year of this new data is insufficient for identifying sustained trends or making sweeping conclusions about the state’s teaching staff, we are proud of this significant improvement and the personalized support all educators are now receiving,” Shulman stated.

Let us know what you think of the state’s methodology and teacher evaluation system in the comments section below.