Watchung, Green Brook Teachers Are 'Highly Effective,' New Rankings Say

WATCHUNG-GREEN BROOK, NJ — The state Department of Education has some good news for parents with students in the Watchung Borough School District and Green Brook Township Public Schools.

More than half of Watchung and Green Brooks' 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.

For Watchung: Out of 57 total teachers, 42 were found to be “highly effective.” Another 14 were found to be “effective,” with no data provided for the other two categories.

For Green Brook: Out of 79 total teachers, 67 were found to be “highly effective.” Another 12 were found to be “effective,” with no data provided for the other two categories.

For Watchung Hills Regional School District: out of the 166 total teachers, 60 were found to be “highly effective.” Another 106 were found to be “effective,” with no data provided for the other two categories.

Watchung's ratio of "highly effective" teachers came out to be nearly 5.9, and it was ranked 142nd out of 496 districts on Patch’s list, which is based on number of teachers per 100 students. While Green Brook had a ratio of 7.6 and ranked at 72nd and Watchung Hills had a ratio of 2.9 and ranked at 333rd. (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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