This week, the NJ Educator Evaluation Task Force, established by P.L. 2024, Chapter 14, held its first organizational meeting. The Task Force was created as an alternative to legislation considered during the December lame duck session of the State Legislature that would have eliminated annual evaluations of “effective” teachers. NJPSA proactively proposed the Task Force as a mechanism to fully consider potential changes to the current educator evaluation system. Chapter 14 was signed on May 17, 2024 and imposes a stringent timeline for its work with a final report due from the Task Force by September 30, 2024.
The Task Force consists of 13 members with representatives from NJPSA, NJEA, NJ Association of School Administrators, Garden State Coalition of Schools, NJ School Boards Association, the American Federation of Teachers and one member each from the Governor’s Office, NJ State Assembly and NJ Senate. NJPSA has three seats at the table. NJPSA Executive Director Karen Bingert, NJPSA President Karen Bennett, and President-Elect Joe Spoltore will represent NJPSA members on the Task Force.
The mission of the Task Force is to consider the TEACH NJ statute and regulations in the current context of New Jersey schools, identify areas for improvement, and make any recommendations regarding appropriate changes or updates to the statute or regulations. Issues the Task Force must consider in developing its recommendations include:
- the educational value, administrative burden and impacts on teachers, principals and assistant principal of the use of student growth objectives (SGOs) in evaluation,
- The development of potential alternatives to the use of SGOs in evaluation,
- Any unintended consequences of the implementation of the TEACH NJ Act, and
- Current research on best practices in evaluation.
The Task Force is required to hold one public hearing to gather input from the public on this issue. The public hearing has been scheduled for Wednesday, August 28, 2024 between 4:00 pm and 6:00 pm. This will be a virtual hearing. Written comments will also be accepted if you cannot attend the hearing.
PLEASE MARK YOUR CALENDARS NOW FOR THIS PUBLIC HEARING IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO WEIGH IN ON THIS ISSUE!
NJPSA has already taken steps to gather our members’ feedback on this issue.
We understand that teacher evaluation is a critical component of your work supporting instructional quality and we understand the importance of the evaluation system in place for you. Our NJPSA committees are discussing this issue in their work. NJPSA issued a member survey on the issue of SGOs and evaluation reform this spring. Your Government Relations team welcomes any feedback you wish to share on this issue as well. You can contact Debra Bradley, dbradley@njpsa.org or Jennie Lamon, jlamon@njpsa.org with your thoughts and recommendations.
We will keep you updated as this issue progresses. Enjoy your summer!