Westfield Teachers Are 'Effective,' New Rankings Say

WESTFIELD, NJ — Town school children are in good hands. The Westfield Town School District received good marks from the New Jersey Department of Education’s staff evaluations based on the 2015-16 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 480 total teachers, 390 were found to be “effective.” Another 89 were found to be “effective,” with no data provided for the other two categories. There are 15 principals, assistant principals and vice principals in the district, but no data was provided for them.

The district’s ratio of "effective" teachers came out to be nearly 6.1, and it was ranked 183rd out of 503 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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