Alexandria Township School District

Excellent Educators for New Jersey

ALEXANDRIA TOWNSHIP PUBLIC SCHOOLS CHOSEN TO PARTICIPATE IN THE EFFECTIVE EDUCATORS FOR NEW JERSEY PILOT PROGRAM.

ALEXANDRIA - On September 1st, the administration of the Alexandria Township School District was notified that they had been selected to participate in the Effective Educators for New Jersey (EE4NJ) Pilot Program. Alexandria was one of eleven districts throughout the state of New Jersey selected to participate. The district will receive approximately $51,000 from the State Department of Education to fulfill the requirements described in the application.

According to Dr. Matthew Jennings, Superintendent of Schools, the district decided to submit an application for several reasons. First, changes in the teacher evaluation program will occur in the near future and it is very likely that when they do, no funding will be provided. Second, the district would like to have input on how teacher evaluation in New Jersey is changed. Last, the district was already doing many of the things required in the grant application, so the funding and support would only accelerate progress towards the districts' current strategic goals.

As part of the pilot program teachers will be evaluated using multiple data sources. One source of data will be traditional teacher observations. Each tenured teacher will receive two formal observations and two informal observations. Each non-tenured teacher will receive three formal observations and two informal observations. The results of the observations will account for 40% of the teacher's final summative evaluation rating.

In addition, teachers and administrators will use data from district and state assessments to set learning goals for students. Assessments administered at the end of the year will be used to determine if the students met the goals established. Demonstrated ability to meet student learning goals will account for another 45% of the teacher's final summative evaluation rating.

Each teacher will compile a documentation log over the course of the year. This log will contain documentation of teacher's professional growth activities, parent communications, teacher's self-analysis of instruction and other evidence of meeting the established standards. Successful completion of all the requirements of the documentation log will account for 10% of the teacher's final summative evaluation rating.

Each school has established two academic learning goals related to the entire student population for the school year. The final component of the teacher's final summative evaluation rating will be the demonstrated ability of the school to meet those two goals. This will account for 5% of the teacher's final summative evaluation rating.

At the end of the year, each teacher will receive a final rating that designates them as either highly effective (100% of the criteria met), effective (85%-99% of the criteria met), partially effective (60-84%) or ineffective. Teachers designated as partially effective or ineffective will be required to complete professional improvement plans in the subsequent school year.

According to Jennings, "The district is very excited to be participating in this program. We are honored to have been selected considering the high level of competition for this grant. We will work very hard to make sure everyone understands the changes and feels supported during this transition. Certainly some staff members will feel overwhelmed or anxious about these changes and we will do our best to help them succeed. Ultimately this is about helping every teacher be the best they can so that our students will be fully prepared to meet the challenges of their futures." The district will host a parent and community evening in mid November designed to explain this program.

State website:

http://www.state.nj.us/education/EE4NJ/