Spotlight Research: NJ Teacher-Evaluation Reform Compared to Other States
Drew professor looks at progress in implementing systems required by Race to the Top.
What it is: The Center for American Progress, a liberal public policy think-tank, this week released a report titled “The State of Teacher Evaluation Reform,” which looks at new teacher-evaluation systems in New Jersey and five other states as they continue to evolve under new state and national mandates.
Who wrote it: The report’s author is New Jersey’s own Patrick McGuinn, an associate professor of political science and education at Drew University. McGuinn, who chairs Drew’s political science department, specializes in federal education policy.
What it says: The report focuses on states’ capacity to implement new teacher-evaluation systems mandated through the federal No Child Left Behind Act and the Race to the Top competition, which provided funding to states to develop such systems with strict conditions for what would be permitted. Overall, McGuinn wrote, there are a number of tall challenges facing each state, starting with tight timelines and limited resources.
Communication is key: “The learning curve for local education agencies, state education agencies, and the U.S. Department of Education during the implementation of new teacher-evaluation systems will be steep and mistakes will inevitably be made, but it is crucial that the work be transparent and that information about effective methods be shared up and down the education delivery chain.”
What it says about New Jersey: New Jersey fares pretty well in McGuinn’s study, which finds it is taking a deliberative approach to instituting a new teacher- evaluation system through a pilot program that so far encompasses 30 districts. The fact that it was agreed to through a new tenure-reform law with bipartisan support only helps, the study says.
Yes, but … : New Jersey still faces a host of challenges as it seeks to have a statewide program in