New Jersey Acting Governor Tahesha Way signed legislation last Friday creating the New Jersey Educator Assessment Review Task Force. The law also suspends the collection of new Student Growth Goals (SGO) data for tenured teachers with existing SGOs for the 2024-25 school year. This bill has been a top priority for NJEA members seeking relief from the burdensome requirements of the current evaluation system, including extremely time-consuming SGOs, which most New Jersey teachers agree provide little or no useful data.
The task force created by this new law will examine the educator evaluation process, including the use of SGOs and other parts of the TEACHNJ Act. The task force is tasked with recommending changes to the educator evaluation system by September 2024.
NJEA executives, Chairman Sean M. Spiller, Vice Chairman Steve Beatty, and Treasurer Petal Robertson, issued the following statement regarding the bill:
“We thank Governor Murphy, Lieutenant Governor Way, and legislative leaders for their support of this very important work. By stopping SGO data collection on tenured teachers next year, they have sent the message that they understand that the current evaluation system needs radical change.
“New Jersey schools face staffing shortages that are harming students. The causes of this crisis are many, but we know that frustration with cumbersome bureaucratic paperwork is a major cause of burnout.
“New Jersey’s educators are among the best in the world at what we do, and this is evident in the fact that our schools are consistently ranked among the best in the nation. However, the unreasonable and time-consuming paperwork requirements of our current evaluation system distract teachers from more important and productive work. That doesn't help anyone.
“We ask task force members to take a closer look at how much time teachers spend trying to prove they are doing their jobs instead of actually doing them. New Jersey needs an evaluation system that respects the professional expertise of educators and supports ongoing professional learning and growth. With mountains of paperwork that do not contribute to more effective teaching and learning, the current system is not only frustrating but actually harmful.
“We look forward to working with other stakeholders throughout this process to develop an assessment system that supports teachers, benefits students, and creates a better working and learning environment for all.”
[photo credit] Flickr: Phil Murphy