Bill Text: NJ S3129 | 2010-2011 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Develops evaluation procedure for classroom teachers and requires establishment of lead teacher endorsement.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-12-01 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Education Committee [S3129 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2010-S3129-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator BARBARA BUONO
District 18 (Middlesex)
SYNOPSIS
Develops evaluation procedure for classroom teachers and requires establishment of lead teacher endorsement.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning the evaluation of classroom teachers, supplementing Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes, and repealing section 1 of P.L.1975, c.132.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. The Legislature finds and declares that:
a. In recent years, a considerable amount of attention has been given to improving the process by which classroom teachers are evaluated. Such efforts are warranted, given that teacher quality is the greatest in-school determinant of student achievement.
b. In reassessing how teacher evaluations should be conducted, much of the emphasis has been on linking the evaluations to, in part, measuring students' academic growth on standardized tests using quantitative analysis techniques, such as value-added models and student growth percentiles.
c. For at least three reasons, the efficacy of using these techniques is dubious. First, the majority of classroom teachers teach grade levels or subjects for which there are no standardized tests on which to measure student academic growth. Second, such an approach creates the risk that teachers who are evaluated using such a system may focus on the subject areas for which there are standardized tests, rather than the full curriculum. Third, measures of student growth do not provide useful information for identifying effective classroom practices that may be used for designing professional development.
d. On the contrary, a recent study has demonstrated that a teacher evaluation procedure that is based on multiple classroom observations during the year by well-qualified professionals who provide immediate, substantive feedback, can have an enduring effect that improves students' academic outcomes in future years.
e. Given the demonstrated benefits of a classroom teacher evaluation system that is based on rigorous classroom observations and well-designed professional development, rather than student test scores, it is appropriate for school districts to focus their efforts on redesigning teacher evaluation procedures in a manner that will provide the greatest benefits to students.
2. a. No later than September 1, 2013, a school district shall develop, and submit to the Commissioner of Education for approval, an array of standards on which the district's classroom teachers shall be evaluated. The standards shall include the following domains:
(1) creating an environment for student learning;
(2) teaching for student learning;
(3) assessment of a teacher's planning; and
(4) assessment of a teacher's professional contributions outside the classroom.
A school district shall develop a separate set of standards for each level of career progression identified in subsection b. of section 5 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).
b. Upon receiving the approval of the commissioner, a school district shall develop, as part of the first collective bargaining agreement entered into after the effective date of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), a procedure for performing a comprehensive teacher evaluation and an annual teacher evaluation for each classroom teacher. The evaluation shall rate a classroom teacher on each standard included in the evaluation in one of four categories: highly effective; effective; approaching effective; or ineffective. The procedure shall identify professional development activities to be undertaken by a classroom teacher based on the results of the comprehensive teacher evaluation and the annual teacher evaluation.
3. a. A school district shall perform a comprehensive teacher evaluation for a classroom teacher during each of the teacher's first three years of employment in the district as a classroom teacher, and every five years thereafter.
b. The comprehensive evaluation shall be based on four classroom observations and a review of a portfolio provided by the classroom teacher. Three of the classroom observations shall be performed by a lead teacher who is not an employee at the same school as the classroom teacher being evaluated, and one classroom observation shall be performed by the school principal or the principal's designee. Each classroom observation shall last a minimum of one classroom period, and the observer shall provide the classroom teacher with verbal feedback within two days of the observation and written feedback within 10 days of the observation. The portfolio provided by the teacher shall include, but need not be limited to, a sample of the teacher's lesson plans, a sample of students' work, a log of the teacher's contact with the students' parents or guardians, the teacher's attendance records, and documentation of professional development activities. A classroom teacher undergoing a comprehensive evaluation shall be evaluated on all standards developed by the district.
4. a. A school district shall perform an annual teacher evaluation for a classroom teacher in each year that a comprehensive teacher evaluation is not conducted.
b. The annual teacher evaluation shall be based on a minimum of one classroom observation, and a review of a portfolio provided by the classroom teacher. The classroom observation shall be performed by the school principal or the principal's designee. The classroom observation shall last a minimum of one classroom period, and the observer shall provide the classroom teacher with verbal feedback within two days of the observation and written feedback within 10 days of the observation. The portfolio provided by the teacher shall include, but need not be limited to, a sample of the teacher's lesson plans, a sample of students' work, a log of the teacher's contact with the students' parents or guardians, the teacher's attendance records, and documentation of professional development activities. A classroom teacher undergoing an annual teacher evaluation shall be evaluated on all of the standards developed by the district.
5. a. A school district shall implement the comprehensive and annual teacher evaluations beginning in the first year of the first collective bargaining agreement entered into after the effective date of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill). For classroom teachers who have obtained tenure prior to the effective date of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), a school district may elect to administer the comprehensive teacher evaluation using a staggered schedule that ensures that all such teachers undergo one comprehensive teacher evaluation within five years of the adoption of the first collective bargaining agreement to be entered into after the effective date of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).
A principal, principal's designee, or lead teacher shall undergo training prior to performing a classroom observation. A classroom teacher shall undergo training in the evaluation procedure prior to being evaluated.
b. The first collective bargaining agreement entered into after the effective date of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill) shall identify the following five levels of career progression, and shall be based on a classroom teacher's years of experience and performance on the comprehensive and annual teacher evaluations:
(1) apprentice teacher, which shall designate an individual with no prior teaching experience;
(2) developing teacher, which shall designate an individual who has met all of the requirements for a standard instructional certificate and is working to develop the skills required for a career in teaching;
(3) career teacher, which shall designate an individual who has demonstrated the skills needed to have a career in teaching;
(4) advanced teacher, which shall designate an individual who is continuing to master teaching techniques, as demonstrated by a distinguished level of teaching; and
(5) accomplished teacher, which shall designate an individual who has demonstrated outstanding teaching.
6. The State Board of Education shall authorize a lead teacher endorsement to the instructional certificate. The State board shall adopt standards for the lead teacher endorsement that shall include a teacher's prior performance on comprehensive and annual teacher evaluations. The endorsement shall allow a teacher to conduct classroom observations as part of a comprehensive teacher evaluation.
7. Section 1 of P.L.1975, c.132 (C.18A:27-3.1) is repealed.
8. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill requires each school district to develop, as part of the collective bargaining agreement, a set of standards on which classroom teachers will be evaluated; the standards will include the following domains: 1) creating an environment for student learning; 2) teaching for student learning; 3) assessment of the teacher's planning; and 4) assessment of the teacher's professional contributions outside the classroom. Upon the adoption of a new collective bargaining agreement after the bill's effective date, a district's teachers would undergo a comprehensive evaluation in each of the teacher's first three years teaching in the district, and every five years thereafter. When a comprehensive evaluation is conducted, a teacher will be evaluated on all standards adopted by the district, and the evaluation will be based on four classroom observations and a portfolio submitted by the teacher. One of the observations would be performed by the school's principal, or the principal's designee, and three will be performed by a lead teacher who is not employed at the same school as the teacher who is being evaluated.
In years in which a comprehensive teacher evaluation is not conducted, a classroom teacher will undergo an annual teacher evaluation. During an annual evaluation, a teacher will be evaluated on one standard adopted by the district, as selected by the teacher, and the evaluation will be based on at least one observation by the school's principal, or the principal's designee, and a portfolio submitted by the teacher.
Additionally, the State Board of Education is required to authorize a lead teacher endorsement to the instructional certificate. The State board would adopt standards for the endorsement that will include an individual's performance on the comprehensive and annual evaluations. The lead teacher endorsement will allow an individual to perform classroom observations as part of a classroom teacher's comprehensive evaluation.
