N.J. education commissioner Schundler pitches plan to tie student performance to teacher pay and tenure
THE RECORD
STAFF WRITER
Confronting an often skeptical crowd of nearly 400 school leaders and union representatives Monday, Education Commissioner Bret Schundler pitched his plan to make student growth a key factor driving teacher pay, tenure and job retention decisions.
Schundler repeatedly stressed that he wanted to use “data, not ideology” to determine whether teachers, principals and programs were succeeding. Echoing the New Jersey Education Association’s long-held view, some teachers there argued it wasn’t fair to judge them by student test scores because many factors outside the classroom, such as poverty and parental absence, influenced test results, and data can be skewed or misused.
“Assessments are not perfect, but they’re effective enough that if students move from the 20th percentile rank to the 60th percentile rank something spectacular has happened,” Schundler countered. He stressed that many periodic assessments would be used to evaluate student progress, and therefore teachers, rather than a single test.
The Christie administration wants to pass legislation by June 1 requiring that student performance become the yardstick for measuring faculty, curriculum and schools. Schundler wants at least half of a teacher’s evaluation to reflect student academic progress, but he said the details of how that evaluation would be calculated, and what else would be included, would be hammered out by a committee of stakeholders, including teachers and principals.
This proposal is part of New Jersey’s second application for $400 million in federal Race to the Top funds. Local buy-in helps applications, which are due June 1, and Schundler pressed the educators in the audience
Schundler repeatedly stressed that he wanted to use “data, not ideology” to determine whether teachers, principals and programs were succeeding. Echoing the New Jersey Education Association’s long-held view, some teachers there argued it wasn’t fair to judge them by student test scores because many factors outside the classroom, such as poverty and parental absence, influenced test results, and data can be skewed or misused.
“Assessments are not perfect, but they’re effective enough that if students move from the 20th percentile rank to the 60th percentile rank something spectacular has happened,” Schundler countered. He stressed that many periodic assessments would be used to evaluate student progress, and therefore teachers, rather than a single test.
The Christie administration wants to pass legislation by June 1 requiring that student performance become the yardstick for measuring faculty, curriculum and schools. Schundler wants at least half of a teacher’s evaluation to reflect student academic progress, but he said the details of how that evaluation would be calculated, and what else would be included, would be hammered out by a committee of stakeholders, including teachers and principals.
This proposal is part of New Jersey’s second application for $400 million in federal Race to the Top funds. Local buy-in helps applications, which are due June 1, and Schundler pressed the educators in the audience