Evaluation & Tenure

NJEA supports reforms to evaluation and tenure that will help ensure a great teacher in every classroom.  In a recent Star Ledger op-ed, NJEA president Barbara Keshishian explained NJEA’s vision of a tenure system that makes it harder to earn tenure, and easier to remove teachers who are shown to be ineffective and unable to improve.  At the same time, a fair dismissal process must remain in place to protect both teachers and schools from bad employment decisions based on politics or personality rather than on job performance.  NJEA’s tenure proposal accomplishes all of that.

NJEA also believes that teacher evaluation must be strengthened.  We call for a system of more frequent evaluations, using proven research-based evaluation models.  While NJEA’s system would place great emphasis on student learning, it would not rely heavily on standardized test scores, which research shows are not reliable indicators of teacher effectiveness.  Proposals from Gov. Christie and the Department of Education would place undue emphasis on standardized test scores, and require massive expansion of standardized testing.

NJEA is working with legislators to see that these common-sense reforms are implemented in our public schools.  They are part of a larger education reform agenda designed to put students first and boost student learning.

Pilot Teacher Evaluation

• NJEA Resource Guide on Evaluation for Teachers
• Taking the lead in YOUR Evaluation - NJEA Review, Jan. 2012
• It's YOUR Evaluation - NJEA Review, Oct. 2011
• Transforming Teacher Evaluation - NJEA Review, Sept. 2011
• Comparing Teacher Evaluation Models - NJEA Review, Nov. 2011
  • McREL Teacher Evaluation System
  • Stronge Teacher Evaluation System
  • The Marzano Causal Teacher Evaluation Model

Resources

• Transforming teacher evaluation
• Questions to ask about merit pay
• Merit Pay’s Trap: When Lawmakers Are Clueless About Teachers’ Classroom Realities - NEA Today, April 3, 2011

Research

• Getting Teacher Evaluation Right: A Background Paper for Policymakers
  

  In September 2011,  Stanford University Professor Linda Darling-Hammond and other leading education research experts presented a briefing on Teacher Evaluation research to policymakers on Capitol Hill. This research was sponsored by the American Educational Research Association and the National Academy of Education.

• Standardized Tests & Teacher Accountability: The Research
  

  Evaluating teachers based on the test scores of their students is a popular idea in the current education reform debate. But is it a good idea? The Educational Testing Service (ETS) hosted a symposium on Jan. 19 that looked at the facts that surround the use of Value-Added Models (VAM) in teacher accountability systems, including decisions about the evaluation, retention, and pay of teachers.

• EPI Study on Test Scores and Evaluation
• POINT Study on Merit Pay
• International merit pay study inadequate for making policy decisions, independent review finds
• What you should know about Value Added Assessment (VAM)

Related Articles

• Getting teacher evaluation right - Washinton Post, Sept. 15, 2011
• Transforming teacher evaluation - Sept. 15, 2011
• NJEA proposes framework for improved teacher evaluation system - May 17, 2011
• Governor announces his education reform package - April 25, 2011
• NJEA urges caution in tying test scores to teacher evaluation  - March 2, 2011
• Task force calls for use of test scores to evaluate teachers  - May 10, 2011
• Teacher evaluation: Research vs. Rhetoric - Feb. 18, 2011
• An unproven step in the wrong direction - Feb. 16, 2011