1. Educator evaluation in New Jersey Three year Review 2013-16
Kristen Brown
Chief Talent Officer
Carl Blanchard
Director, Office of Evaluation
Pete Mazzagatti
Policy Analyst, Office of Evaluation
May 3, 2017

2. Agenda Evaluation System History and Outlook Teachers School Leaders
Recognizing and Supporting Our Top Teachers

3. Summary
Teacher and school leader effectiveness are the most important in-school factors contributing to student success
Via the TEACHNJ law and subsequent AchieveNJ regulations, the DOE and school districts have focused substantial effort over the past several years on improving educator effectiveness through evaluation and support
On a statewide basis, AchieveNJ has provided educators with a significantly improved educator evaluation system through which:
Teachers have shown improved performance
Schools have retained effective teachers at high rates
Great teachers are being recognized and many are taking on new roles
Principals and other administrators are growing as instructional leaders
At a local level, the accuracy and value of evaluations continues to vary; the Department reaffirms its commitment to supporting districts in their improvement efforts

4. Improving Student Achievement Through Better Instruction
Educator Effectiveness
Aligned Assessment
Quality Standards
Of all the in-school factors related to student success, the effectiveness of teachers has the biggest impact; leader quality is second only to teacher quality
Instruction
Recruitment & Preparation
Student Achievement
Professional Development
Certification
Evaluation

5. Educator Evaluation: A Tool for Improving Effectiveness
Where We Were
Old binary system predicated on satisfactory/unsatisfactory rating provided little information to help educators improve
Number of Educators
Unsatisfactory
Satisfactory
Effectiveness

6. Educator Evaluation: A Tool for Improving Effectiveness
Where We Are
AchieveNJ provides a more nuanced and informative picture of educator performance
Number of Educators 1 4
Effectiveness

7. Educator Evaluation: A Tool for Improving Effectiveness
Where We Are Going
Better performance information coupled with the right professional development yields increased effectiveness, and positive results for students
Number of Educators 1 4
Effectiveness

8. Development and Implementation of AchieveNJ
AchieveNJ was developed and continues to improve by learning from pilots and continually gathering educator input
The Department continues to provide support to districts as they improve their systems
Evaluation Pilots
Innovation/Principal Pilots
Evaluation Pilot Advisory Committee
AchieveNJ Advisory
Committee
Highly Effective Teacher Evaluation/ Principal Committees
TEACHNJ and Initial Regulations
AchieveNJ Regulations
Regulation Updates
Direct Support Workshops Resources Communication
13-14
14-15
15-16
12-13
11-12
16-17
Compliance to Quality to Ownership

9. Teacher Evaluation
AchieveNJ has enabled districts to identify the lowest and highest performing teachers, setting the stage for next steps for these educators
Teachers at all performance levels are improving
2/3 of teachers identified as less-than-effective have improved their practice through targeted coaching
Number of Highly Effective teachers has grown each year over the past three years
Districts are retaining and growing their best teachers
Each year, 95% of Effective and Highly Effective teachers continue teaching, about 1/3 less-than-effective teachers leave NJ classrooms1
$2M in stipends awarded to 250 Highly Effective educators from 28 school districts to further develop as teacher leaders through the Achievement Coach Program
Based on analysis of LEA data submitted

10. Teachers Have Improved For Several Reasons
Expectations have been clarified for what good teaching is
“Teacher evaluation in New Jersey now has a sharper focus on academic knowledge, teaching practice, student engagement and using student data to differentiate instruction.”
~ Virginia Grossman, 2017 Burlington County Superintendent of the Year,
Westampton Township Public Schools
Evaluation framework allows for improved conversations and feedback
“As a result of AchieveNJ, the Millstone Schools had some of the best conversations about teaching and learning over the course of these last two years EVER.”
~ Scott Feder, Superintendent, Millstone Township School District
Student and teacher data is used to improve teacher practice
“Teachers are now focused on the objectives as outlined in the SGO requiring the teacher to focus the learning in the classroom and align it to the learning goal.”
~ Lisa Adams, Morris County Teacher of the Year 2014,
Morris County Vocational School District
“Each elementary school decided on a professional development goal based on observation data analyzed by each school's ScIP teams.”
~ David Heras, Supervisor of Elementary Language Arts, Franklin Township Public Schools

11. Addressing Challenges in Teacher Evaluation
In some districts, evaluations are still only compliance-based and not being used to improve teacher effectiveness
Disconnect between evaluation component results suggests improvements in evaluation quality may be needed in some districts
Little differentiation in component scores, e.g. observations, reduces usefulness of evaluation for professional development
Made regulatory changes in so districts can focus on what matters most
Provided evaluation data cards to assist district evaluation improvements
Proposed QSAC revisions focus on evaluation and professional development systems

12. School Leader Evaluation
School leaders have made a significant contribution to the success of their teachers and are growing as instructional leaders
Survey results show that over half school leaders spend a majority of their time on activities that contribute to teacher efficacy and student learning1
AchieveNJ has provided an opportunity for more frequent conversations around principal practice
leaders surveyed by NJDOE/NJPSA instrument in 2016

13. Addressing Challenges in School Leader Evaluation
About 1 in 10 school leaders are not receiving a complete evaluation
Retention of school leaders seems unrelated to evaluation performance
Challenges in principal observation process decrease value of principal evaluation
Proposed QSAC revisions ensure compliance with basic evaluation requirements
Regulatory changes in and updated guidance focus on improving evaluation accuracy and value for principals
Developing streamlined observation instrument and process for optional district use

14. The Achievement Coaches Program
Achievement Coaches are Highly Effective educators who provide high quality professional development to their peers while growing as leaders

15. Professional Development
Purpose
The Achievement Coach Program increases the impact of the state’s Highly Effective educators
Professional Development
Teacher Leadership
Cultural Shifts
High-quality, job-embedded
Informed by evaluation data
Created by educators for educators
Peer support and leadership
Growing school leaders
Teachers leading
Local ownership of PD
District partnerships

16. Process
Achievement Coaches Summer Institute: Weeklong centerpiece of each year in which coaches from the districts who created content trained coaches from other awarded LEAs
300 total coaches then trained educators throughout New Jersey, reaching an estimated 15,000 teachers in over 100 districts through over 350 direct trainings 
Achievement Coach Cohorts
Home School District
Partner Districts

17. Outcomes Program Impact on Teacher Practice
Teachers report that the PD they were provided by Achievement Coaches was high quality and helped their practice
Immediately after training, over 90% agreed that…
they were satisfied with the professional learning opportunity the Achievement Coach program provided
the content and skills they learned from the Achievement Coaches will help them improve as an educator
3-6 months after training, over 80%…
are incorporating the skills and information learned in the sessions
believe the skills and content learned are impacting their students

18. Outcomes Teacher Leadership and Cultural Shifts
East Brunswick School District
Developing a Common Language for Great Teaching
Morris County Vocational School District
Magnifying the Impact of Teacher Leaders
Jackson School District
Sustaining the Program

19. East Brunswick School District: Developing a Common Language for Great Teaching
Video recordings
Distributed leadership in professional development and embedded coaching
Communicating the district’s focus

20. Morris County Vocational School District: Magnifying the Impact of Teacher Leaders
Identifying the need (2009)
Achievement Coach Program bolsters teacher-leadership (2015 – 2017)
Teacher-leadership moving forward (2017…)

21. Jackson School District: Sustaining the Program
Sustaining the Achievement Coach Program
Use Title II funds to support Achievement Coach stipends
Design and implement a “homegrown” summer institute
Expand our cadre of Coaches to further increase the capacity for teacher leadership
First Two Years
Provided a platform for highly effective teachers from around the state to share, collaborate, and model great teaching
Blueprint for delivery of effective professional learning
Creating and fostering “teachers as leaders”

22. www.nj.gov/education/AchieveNJ educatorevaluation@doe.state.nj.us
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