New Jersey Administrative Code
Title 6A - EDUCATION
Chapter 10 - EDUCATOR EFFECTIVENESS
Subchapter 1 - GENERAL PROVISIONS
Section 6A:10-1.2 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 6, March 18, 2024

The following words and terms shall have the following meanings when used in this chapter, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:

"Announced observation" means an observation in which the person conducting an observation for the purpose of evaluation will notify the teaching staff member of the date and the class period that the observation will be conducted.

"Annual performance report" means a written appraisal of the teaching staff member's performance prepared by the teaching staff member's designated supervisor based on the evaluation rubric for his or her position.

"Annual summative evaluation rating" means an annual evaluation rating that is based on appraisals of educator practice and student performance, and includes all measures captured in a teaching staff member's evaluation rubric. The four summative performance categories are highly effective, effective, partially effective, and ineffective.

"Calibration" in the context of educator evaluation means a process to monitor the competency of a trained evaluator to ensure the evaluator continues to apply an educator practice instrument accurately and consistently according to the standards and definitions of the specific instrument.

"Chief school administrator" means the superintendent of schools or the administrative principal if there is no superintendent.

"Co-observation" means two or more supervisors who are trained on the practice instrument who observe simultaneously, or at alternate times, the same lesson or portion of a lesson for the purpose of training.

"Designated supervisor" means the supervisor designated by the chief school administrator or his or her designee as the teaching staff member's supervisor.

"District Evaluation Advisory Committee" means a group created to oversee and guide the planning and implementation of the district board of education's evaluation policies and procedures as set forth in 6A:10-2.3.

"Educator practice instrument" means an assessment tool that provides scales or dimensions that capture competencies of professional performance and differentiation of a range of professional performance as described by the scales, which must be shown in practice and/or research studies. The scores from the teacher practice instrument or the principal practice instrument are components of the teaching staff member's evaluation rubrics and the scores are included in the summative evaluation rating for the individual. The scores from educator practice instruments for teaching staff members other than teachers, principals, vice principals, and assistant principals may be applied to the teaching staff member's summative evaluation rating in a manner determined by the school district.

"Evaluation" means an appraisal of an individual's professional performance in relation to his or her job description and professional standards and based on, when applicable, the individual's evaluation rubric.

"Evaluation rubric" means a set of criteria, measures, and processes used to evaluate all teaching staff members in a specific school district or local education agency. Evaluation rubrics consist of measures of professional practice, based on educator practice instruments, and student outcomes. Each district board of education will have an evaluation rubric specifically for teachers, another specifically for principals, assistant principals, and vice principals, and evaluation rubrics for other categories of teaching staff members.

"Indicators of student progress and growth" means the results of assessment(s) of students as defined in N.J.A.C. 6A:8, Standards and Assessment.

"Individual professional development plan" means as defined in 18A:6-119.

"Job description" means a written specification of the function of a position, duties and responsibilities, the extent and limits of authority, and work relationships within and outside the school and school district.

"Long observation" means an observation for the purpose of evaluation that is conducted for a minimum duration of 40 minutes or one class period, whichever is shorter.

"Model evaluation rubric" means district educator evaluation rubrics that have been reviewed and accepted by the Commissioner. A model teaching or principal evaluation rubric includes a teacher or principal practice instrument that appears on the Department's list of approved educator practice instruments.

"Observation" means a method of collecting data on the performance of a teaching staff member's assigned duties and responsibilities. An observation for the purpose of evaluation will be included in the determination of the annual summative evaluation rating and shall be conducted by an individual employed in the school district in a supervisory role and capacity and possessing a school administrator, principal, or supervisor endorsement as defined in N.J.A.C. 6A:9-2.1.

"Post-observation conference" means a meeting, either in-person or remotely, between the supervisor who conducted the observation and the teaching staff member for the purpose of evaluation to discuss the data collected in the observation.

"Scoring guide" means a set of rules or criteria used to evaluate a performance, product, or project. The purpose of a scoring guide is to provide a transparent and reliable evaluation process. Educator practice instruments include a scoring guide that an evaluator uses to structure his or her assessments and ratings of professional practice.

"Semester" means half of the school year.

"Short observation" means an observation for the purpose of evaluation that is conducted for at least 20 minutes.

"Signed" means the name of one physically written by oneself or an electronic code, sound, symbol, or process attached to or logically associated with a record and executed or adopted by a person with the intent to sign the record.

"Student growth objective" means an academic goal that teachers and evaluators set for groups of students.

"Student growth percentile" means a specific metric for measuring individual student progress on Statewide assessments by tracking how much a student's test scores have changed relative to other students Statewide with similar scores in previous years.

"Student growth objective" means an academic goal that teachers and designated supervisors set for groups of students.

"Supervisor" means an appropriately certified teaching staff member, as defined in N.J.S.A. 18A:1-1, or superintendent employed in the school district in a supervisory role and capacity, and possessing a school administrator, principal, or supervisor endorsement as described in N.J.A.C. 6A:9B-12.

"Teacher" means a teaching staff member who holds the appropriate standard, provisional, or emergency instructional certificate issued by the State Board of Examiners and is assigned a class roster of students for at least one particular course.

"Teaching staff member" means a member of the professional staff of any district or regional board of education, or any county vocational school district board of education, holding office, position, or employment of such character that the qualifications for such office, position, or employment require him or her to hold a valid, effective, and appropriate standard, provisional, or emergency certificate issued by the State Board of Examiners. Teaching staff members include the positions of school nurse and school athletic trainer. There are three different types of certificates that teaching staff members work under:

"Unannounced observation" means an observation in which the person conducting an observation for the purpose of evaluation will not notify the teaching staff member of the date or time that the observation will be conducted.

"Validity" means the extent to which evidence and theory support an interpretation of scores from a measurement instrument for a particular use of the instrument. In the context of evaluating educator practice, this means the evidence gathered using the instrument supports correct and useful inferences and decisions about the effectiveness of the practice observed.