Schools

Red Bank a Pilot Participant in Teacher Evaluations

The borough is one of 11 districts in the state to participate in a new evaluation program.

Red Bank is one of 11 school districts participating in a state pilot teacher evaluation program, the New Jersey Department of Education announced, one Superintendent Laura Morana said will not only promote continued discussion among teachers and administrators, but give the borough the opportunity to help shape and influence what could eventually be a state-wide program.

Morana said the new program was introduced Thursday and will carry through the school year. Red Bank, as well as the 10 other districts, will implement a new framework for evaluating teachers based on multiple measures of teacher practice and student performance, she said. According to a release from the department of education, the pilot districts are being counted on to provide critical input and feedback prior to next year’s statewide roll-out.

For Red Bank, Morana said it means increasing the number of evaluations for tenured teachers from the previously mandated one, to two. For non-tenured teachers, the number of evaluations drops from four to three. It’s not just about evaluations, she said, but changing the system.

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“It is the most critical responsibility that we have to be able to support the development of our teachers,” she said. “Teaching and learning has changed so much in the last few years and we want to make sure our teachers are supported 100 percent.”

For its participation, Red Bank will receive more than $57,000 in grant funding from the state, which will be used largely for training district administration in the new program. The new program is Gov. Chris Christie’s baby. Much to the chagrin of the New Jersey Education Association, Christie promised to reform the state public education system and hold tenured teachers accountable for both their successes, and failures.

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The outline has already been provided by the state, now Red Bank simply has to implement it. Among the points presented by the state are that it’s not simply test scores that matter, but student progress; in fairness to teachers in all districts, multiple measures will be used to determine performance.

In addition to its outline, the state has also asked the pilots to help determine how teachers in subjects without traditional testing measures be evaluated. Morana said the district would not be alone in this. A local district advisory committee has been established to help assist administrators.

“We wanted to be part of that decision making process,” she said. “We wanted to be able to contribute to that plan and system that looks at teachers in untested areas of education.”


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