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Sunday, January 9, 2011

NJ Spotlight | Educator Evaluation Expected To Be Part of Christie's State of the State

NJ Spotlight | Educator Evaluation Expected To Be Part of Christie's State of the State

Educator Evaluation Expected To Be Part of Christie's State of the State
Full implementation of teacher evaluation system could be two years off

Whatever recommendation comes out of Gov. Chris Christie’s Educator Effectiveness Task Force in the coming months, don’t look for a new system for evaluating school teachers and principals to go statewide for at least a couple of years.

Christie is expected in his State of the State address tomorrow to press his proposals for more tightly coupling teacher and principal performance with student achievement, a plan that could change how educators are tenured, promoted and paid.

But away from the rhetoric and into the details, a number of factors and obstacles point to a painstaking process that even the strongest advocates say will take time to accomplish.

Pilot Tests

The leader of the governor’s task force, which is charged with recommending a statewide evaluation system by March, said this weekend that it would make sense to start with a few pilot districts to test