Schools implement new teacher evaluation

The Lenape Regional High School District will be implementing a new state-mandated teacher evaluation tool in addition to its own “homegrown” method this school year, as was discussed at last week’s meeting.

According to the state Department of Education, past evaluations were infrequent, ineffective and failed to accomplish their main goal of providing information to help educators continuously improve their practice. The TEACHNJ Act, signed into law in August 2012, mandated that new evaluation systems based on multiple measures of student learning and teacher practice be implemented statewide in 2013–14. For some districts that already have strong evaluation systems in place, this will likely not be that much of a change but rather an opportunity to build on existing practice, the state’s website said.

According to Heather Xenakis, director of curriculum and instruction, teachers will receive a rating at the end of the year ranging from highly effective, effective, partially effective or ineffective.

Additionally, the district will implement its own evaluation tool.

“We wrote our own evaluation tool. We had it approved by our board of education and the state DOE. There was a request for qualifications process, to which we applied, and were given approval. Very few districts were given approval to use their own tool,” Xenakis said. “We are proud to say that our tool, which was developed by teachers, administrators and district administrators, was a collaborative effort that we worked diligently on for over a year.”

Additionally, evaluators will be spending more time in the classroom.

“NJ Achieve recommends three short 20-minute observations for tenured teachers or 60 minutes for the year. The LRHSD has committed to 80 minutes during the year as we are moving forward with two full-length classroom observations,” Xenakis said. “We were given flexibility for number of observations for tenured teachers and have exceeded state requirements for observation minutes in classroom.

“We feel strongly that allowing more time in the classroom, 40-minute class period versus 20 minutes, will allow a more complete picture of what happens in that classroom.”

The district is on the second step of the process, and is currently waiting for approval.

“All of our professional development has been conducted in house by our RBT trainers who are tremendous resources. We are all dedicated to the successful implementation of our new evaluation tool,” Xenakis said.

In other news:

The district recently held its new teacher orientation, according to superintendent of schools Carol Birnbohm.

“The process went well,” she said.

Teachers were provided with two days of a district presentation before spending a full day at their “home school.”

The next board of education meeting is scheduled for Sept. 18 at 7:30 p.m. at the District Building at 93 Willow Grove Road, Shamong.