Issue Position: Conaway and Singleton Announce Bordentown's Seection to Participate in New Teacher Evaluation Pilot Program

Issue Position

Assemblymen Herb Conaway, Jr., M.D. and Troy Singleton (both D-Burlington) on Wednesday announced that Bordentown Regional is one of just 10 school districts statewide that have been chosen to participate in the second year of the state's teacher evaluation pilot program during the 2012-2013 school year.

"There's a reason why New Jersey has some of the brightest students in the nation and that's because of our talented and dedicated teaching staff," said Conaway. "In order to remain at the top, we need to continue finding ways to improve the classroom experience and that starts right here with an enhanced evaluation process that helps facilitate best practices."

"This is great news because it means Bordentown will have a seat at the table in helping to determine the future of our educational approach in New Jersey," said Singleton. "This pilot program has already established greater lines of communication to improve practices in the classroom and I'm proud that one of our local districts will help play a continued part in that."

Of the 70 districts that applied to participate, Bordentown Regional was one of 10 districts that were selected to receive a total of $1 million in grant funds for the teacher evaluation pilot, pending final review procedures.

Educators in these districts will work collaboratively with the state Department of Education (DOE) to develop new educator evaluation systems for rollout across the state to help teachers continuously improve their practices.

Throughout the first year of the teacher evaluation pilot, educators in participating districts have helped DOE develop and refine aspects of the new teacher evaluation system in preparation for the roll out to all districts in 2013-14. Educators and administrators provided feedback on the impact the new evaluation system is having on their teaching practice, schools and districts, including more meaningful feedback on their practice; stakeholder engagement that helps build a better culture of trust, transparency and communication; and quality, in-depth training that is critical to teacher understanding.

"The goal of any pilot program is to gain information on the successes and challenges faced with implementation efforts. By working closely with our pilot districts and educators, we will be able to provide better guidance to other districts throughout the state," said Acting Commissioner Cerf. "Educators and administrators have expressed having more meaningful and constructive conversations about their practice than ever before, and having an evaluation system that facilitates this dialogue, among both teachers and principals, will ultimately result in better outcomes for our students."

Additional information on the pilot program and the other districts chosen to participate this year, can be found here.

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