Official Site of The State of New Jersey
Educational Services Professional
Per New Jersey Administrative Code for Professional Standards (N.J.A.C. 6A:9), an “Educational Services Professional” holds an educational services certificate, which permits an individual to serve in a primarily non-instructional and non-administrative teaching staff role in a school district. School social workers, school psychologists, learning disabilities teacher-consultants, and student assistance coordinators are considered educational services professionals for the purposes of AchieveNJ. Visit the Educational Services Personnel webpage for information about these types of certificates.
Educators in public schools who are not classroom teachers play very important roles in the overall educational development of students. These educators provide academic and personal counseling, serve on Child Study Teams, and support athletic programs. Their roles include library media specialists, school nurses, school psychologists, school social workers and occupational therapists, in addition to many other positions important to New Jersey’s schoolchildren. Together, these roles constitute nearly 20% of certificated educators. All students deserve to attend schools with high-quality professionals serving in these positions, and all these professionals deserve meaningful opportunities for growth.
Educational Services Professional Evaluation Measures
Districts continue to have great latitude in evaluating educational service professionals. It is difficult to create a common evaluation practice instrument for educational services professionals, since they hold positions with varied job descriptions.
Educational Services Professional Practice
The largest single component of an educational services professional’s overall evaluation is based on observations of their practice.
Observation Requirements Summary
- Tenured
-
- One recommended observation each school year.
- Each observation must be at least 20 minutes.
- Non-Tenured
-
- Three required observations each school year.
- Each observation must be at least 20 minutes.
Any educational services professional who ends the school year with an Ineffective or Partially Effective rating has an additional observation the following year as part of their Corrective Action Plan (CAP).
Summative Rating
Each component of an educator's evaluation results in a score between 1 and 4. Each component is weighted according to a formula and the total is added to determine the summative rating of Highly Effective, Effective, Partially Effective, or Ineffective. Official summative ratings are calculated by an educator's district.
|
Ineffective |
Partially Effective |
Effective |
Highly Effective |
|---|---|---|---|
|
1.0 |
1.85 |
2.65 |
3.5 - 4.0 |
Educational Services Professionals who are rated Ineffective or Partially Effective will work with their designated supervisor to create a Corrective Action Plan with targeted professional development for the subsequent year.