Principal Evaluation and the NJPEPL Process

• Step 1: Annual Planning and Goal-Setting Conference
• Step 2: Observations and Post-Observation Conferences
• Step 3: Annual Summary Conference
• Guidance for Other Administrators

This conference provides a foundation for a successful year where the principal and supervisor can reflect on the successes and challenges of the previous year and establish expectations for the coming year. This will be followed by Step Two: Observations and Post-Observation Conferences and then Step Three: Annual Summary Conference. Finally, Guidance for Other Administrators will conclude.

There are three objectives for the annual planning and goal-setting conference:

• Plan: Develop agreements and a shared understanding of the expectations and timeline for the evaluation cycle
• Prioritize: Determine the most important goals for the principal, critical domains of principal practice and the types of evidence that will be collected during observations
• Align: Build congruence between administrator goals, practice priorities and the principal’s professional development plan

Related to these objectives are three concrete outcomes, that if not completed during the conference itself should be completed soon thereafter.

• Development of administrator goals [highlighted on screen]
• Agreement on specific observation protocols such as timing and methods of gathering and sharing evidence
• A professional development plan with goals for the year

We will address the processes to achieve these outcomes beginning with Administrator Goals.

In advance of the conference, the principal should prepare by reviewing relevant student performance data, survey results, and prior evaluation feedback.

The principal should also develop a first draft of administrator goals and update his or her professional development plan. In addition, principals and their supervisors should reflect on areas of growth for the upcoming year. Using the New Jersey Principal and Supervisors Association’s Leadership Reflection and Growth Tool is an excellent way to explore these growth areas for all administrators in the district. This can be completed in advance of the annual planning and goal-setting conference. 

In advance of the conference:

• Principal reviews relevant student performance data, survey results, and prior evaluation feedback.
• Principal develops first draft of Administrator Goals and update Professional Development Plan
• Principals and their supervisors reflect on areas of growth for the upcoming year.

High-quality administrator goals are critical for establishing priorities for school improvement. Developing administrator goals during the annual planning and goal-setting conference provides a foundation on which other evaluation and development structures can be built.

There are a few basic requirements that must be met when developing administrator goals. Principals must set between one and four goals each of which must be:

• specific and measurable,
• based on student growth and/or achievement data, and
• include a significant number of students.

Administrator goals must be set by October 31. However, setting goals earlier than this during the annual planning and goal-setting conference will help streamline and align the evaluation process.

It is important that Administrator goals align with other school and district goals. Sometimes, the number and type of goals in a school district can be overwhelming, particularly when there is no coherence between these goals.

[Words shown scattered on slide:

• Administrator goals
• District
• District improvement
• School improvement
• SGOs
• PDP
• Superintendent merit
• School board ]

Once district goals are aligned, these can be used to inform the principal’s administrator goals and school improvement goals. The principal’s PDP should be aligned to meeting these goals. Furthermore, teachers’ student growth objectuves (SGO) should also be aligned to the principal’s and district’s priorities. Finally, all goals should be developed using available data. Using data to align goals throughout the district, including administrator goals, is efficient and provides focus.

[Shown on screen: School board, district, and superintendent merit grouped with district improvement. PDP and administrator goals grouped with school improvement.]

During the annual planning and goal-setting conference, the principal and superintendent should aim to achieve three things regarding administrator goals.

1. Develop a shared understanding of district and school goals.
2. Discuss student and other school data that can inform priorities for school improvement.
3. Align administrator goals to district and school goals.

Taking each of these in turn, first...

…develop a shared understanding of district and school goals.

For example, Mountainview School District has been experiencing:

• A rapidly growing English-language learner (ELL) population.
• The district has also seen double digit gaps in math performance between ELL students and non-ELL student groups.

To address this, district leadership has developed a goal that aims to close the achievement gap in math between ELL and all other students to within 5 points in the next three years.

[Shown on screen:

Data:

• Growing ELL population districtwide
• Double-digit achievement gaps in math between ELL students and non-ELL students.

District goal: close the achievement gap in math btween ELL and all other students to within five points in the next three years.]

At Mountainview, the middle school principal and superintendent review a variety of performance data that can inform school priorities and administrator goals.

These data include:

• Evaluation results for teachers over the past several years
• Recent results from state tests for middle school grades broken down by student group
• Other benchmark data

mSGP: median student growth percentile

[Table shown on screen with illegible numbers and text: WIDA Academic Language Levels (SAS Admissions and EAL Program Placement. Grades Pre-kindergarten through 12.]

Sample Data Analysis

State assessment math scores, shown in Table 3, indicate that, like in other schools in the district, ELL students are not performing as well as their non-ELL peers and are also lagging behind their ELL peers in the rest of the state.

As a result of this analysis and discussion, the Mountainview’s Middle School principal suggests setting the following administrator goal:

Increase the percentage of ELL students in grades 6 and 7 who meet or exceed expectations on the math assessment by 5 points.

This goal aligns closely with the district goal—close the achievement gap in math between ELL and all other students to within five points in the next three years—and is somewhat more ambitious. The timeline for the improvement is set at one year rather than three.

In some circumstances and if appropriate groundwork has been laid, the principal’s administrator goal may be an achievable goal. However, the time required for a principal to meet a particular student achievement goal may extend beyond the yearly evaluation cycle. A principal may need to make significant changes within the school in order to realize particular student achievement gains. Changes in scheduling, curriculum, staffing, and the overall professional capacity of the staff, all take time and are some of the factors that may need to be addressed before academic gains are seen in students.

In cases where significant groundwork needs to be laid in order to achieve student achievement related goals, administrators should consider setting administrator goals that take this reality into account. For example, in year one, a principal may set a goal for establishing changes in curriculum or providing PD to help build staff professional capacity. This might be classified as a process goal where the aim is to lay the foundation for the established student achievement goal that will follow.

The expected student achievement gains form the foundation of the administrator goal the following year.

In applying this concept to the Mountainview example, the middle school principal’s administrator goal is to increase the percentage of ELL students in grades 6 and 7 who meet or exceed expectations on the math assessment by five points over the next year. However, upon further discussion between the principal and superintendent, they agree that before any significant gains in ELL math performance will be seen, groundwork needs to be laid.

They agree that the middle school teachers need deliberate coaching in the use of techniques to specifically assist this group and build their instructional capacity. They agree that the staff will receive training in sheltered instruction techniques to better integrate language and content instruction.

[Diagram shown on screen: Schedule, staffing, professional capacity, and curriculum all feed into increase ELL student math performance.]

As year 1 of his multiyear administrator goal, the Mountainview Middle School Principal sets a goal to improve instructional techniques throughout his school’s ELL classrooms. This process goal aims to build staff capacity and states that:

By May, appropriate sheltered instruction techniques taught during staff PD sessions will be visible in 80 percent of ELL classroom visits.

The principal uses the student achievement goal as his provisional year 2 administrator goal. This goal states:

The percentage of ELL students in grades 6 and 7 who meet or exceed expectations on the math assessment will increase by 5 points over the next year.

This goal should be revisited at next year’s annual planning and goal-setting conference prior to implementing it for evaluation purposes. The goal should be adjusted as necessary based on new information or shifts in priorities.

Let’s review the information about setting administrator goals through an activity. For this activity, you will need to have access to your most recently completed administrator goals and Professional Development Plan.

Choose one of your administrator goals and answer the following questions:

1. How well was your administrator goal aligned with the district goals and your school goals?
2. On what data was this goal based?
3. Could this administrator goal be adapted into a multi-year goal?
4. Does your PDP address an aspect of your knowledge or practice that helped you achieve your administrator goal? If not, how could your PDP have been revised to provide support in this area?

Pause the video as needed in order to complete this activity. 

Following the setting of administrator goals, the second concrete outcome of the annual planning and goal setting conference is a set of specific observation protocols. These protocols include those related to prioritization of practice domains, evidence collection, and duration of the observation window. Agreeing to a set of observation protocols ensures that both superintendent and principal are clear on the overall structure of the observation process prior to observations occurring.

Objectives:

• Plan: Develop agreements and shared understanding of expectations and timeline
• Prioritize: Determine most important goals for principal, critical domains of principal practice and types of evidence collected during observations
• Align: Build congruence between admin goals, practice priorities and professional development plans

Outcomes:

• Administrator Goals
• Specific Observation Protocols [highlighted on slide]
• Professional Development Plan

Throughout the evaluation cycle, an appropriate variety and quantity of evidence spanning all domains of practice should be collected. However, a useful way to maximize opportunities for principal professional learning is to choose one or more priority domains. The principal and superintendent should identify the practice domains most aligned to Administrator Goals, and identify other priority practice domains.

For evidence collection, the educators should agree on potential sources of direct and indirect evidence for each practice domain including which the principal will provide and what the evaluator will collect and identify potential opportunities for direct observation of the principal.

Finally, the administrators should agree on start and end dates of the observation windows. The NJDOE’s recommendation is between 2 and 3 months per window. There is value in applying these observation protocols to the evaluation process regardless of the observation instrument a district chooses to use.

Priorities

1. Identify practice domains aligned to Administrator Goals
2. Identify other priority practice domains

Evidence Collection

3. Agree on potential sources of direct and indirect evidence for each domain
4. Identify potential opportunities for direct observation of the principal

Observation Time Frame

Agree on start and end dates of observation windows (2 to 3 months per window)

[Text shown on screen:

Identify domains aligned to administrator goals:

Goal: By May, appropriate sheltered instruction techniques taught during staff PD sessions will be visible in 80% of ELL classroom visits]

The Mountainview Middle School Principal’s goal is to increase sheltered instruction techniques in ELL classes throughout the year. Practice domains closely associated with this goal are related to curriculum, instruction and assessment and the professional capacity of staff. These correspond to domains 2 and 3 in the NJPEPL Observation Instrument, which is used here in the example.

Domain 1: Mission, Vision and Core Values is also identified as a priority domain this year as the superintendent seeks to establish consistency of expectations and mission across all schools in the district.

Once priorities are established, the principal and superintendent determine potential sources of evidence for all areas of practice, but particularly for the prioritized domains.

Direct Evidence

Direct evidence of the principal’s practice can be collected when the superintendent witnesses the principal in a leadership activity and may include school site visits.

Indirect Evidence

Indirect evidence is gathered through various artifacts and the actions and words of others that are a result of the principal’s leadership. Examples at Mountainview Middle School include:

• PD materials used for sheltered instruction training
• Classroom walkthroughs
• Agendas
• Final report from the school’s mission/vision committee

The principal identifies two opportunities where a site visit would allow the superintendent to see him in action: at the opening day faculty meeting and during several teacher post-observation conferences. These are potential opportunities for direct observation of the principal.

The snapshot of examples shown here is for illustrative purposes only. Districts should aim to gather a diverse and meaningful portfolio of evidence for each principal while guarding against making this process burdensome. We recommend that districts develop a document that outlines the type of evidence that will be accepted and/or required for evaluation purposes.

[Text shown on screen: Discuss start and end dates of observation windows to capture full scope of principal’s work (2 to 3 months per window). The timeframes shown are for illustrative purposes only and are not required.]

During the planning conference, the principal and superintendent should also agree on start and end dates of each observation window. Approximately 2 to 3 months will allow for good capture of the scope of the principal’s work.

For example, the first window might begin September 1 continuing through December 1. The second window could begin January 3 and end March 15.

If the principal is non-tenured, a third window must be added. The first window could begin September 1 and end November 1. The second window could begin November 15, ending January 5 and the third window could begin January 20 lasting until March 20. Finally, it is important to remember that a post-observation conference must occur within 15 working days following the end date of each observation window.

After administrator goals have been determined and specific observation protocols have been discussed, the principal’s professional development plan should be reviewed and revised as needed. A meaningful and intentional professional development plan can help the principal meet his or her goals and grow in identified areas.

Objectives:

• Plan: Develop agreements and shared understanding of expectations and timeline
• Prioritize: Determine most important goals for principal, critical domains of principal practice and types of evidence collected during observations
• Align: Build congruence between administrator goals, practice priorities and professional development plans

Outcomes:

• Administrator Goals
• Specific Observation Protocols
• Professional Development Plan [highlighted on slide]

Among other requirements in code, a principal’s Professional Development Plan must:

• Identify professional learning goals that address specific individual, school, or school district goals; and
• Be derived from the results of observations, evidence, and recommendations included in the annual performance evaluation of the school leader

These requirements are well suited to developing an aligned plan that helps a principal achieve his or her administrator goals and professional improvement goals.

To develop a meaningful and intentional PDP, a principal may look at three pieces of information;

• Recommendations from the principal’s most recent performance evaluation,
• This year’s administrator goals, and
• Those practice domains that may be prioritized for the upcoming evaluation cycle.

Recent Performance Evaluation

In Mountainview, during last year’s annual performance review, the superintendent asked the principal to consider expanding the role of teacher-leaders to assist in the implementation of the district’s sheltered instruction goal.

Administrator Goals

One of the principal’s administrator goals is aligned to this recommendation and states that by May, appropriate sheltered instruction techniques taught during staff PD sessions will be visible in 80% of ELL classroom visits.

Prioritized Practice Domains

The prioritized practice domains aligned to this goal are:

• Domain 1: Mission, Vision, Core Values
• Domain 2: Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment
• Domain 3: Professional Capacity of school Personnel

Based on a review of this information, the principal develops the following professional development plan:

Develop the knowledge and skills to create and implement a school-wide system which supports teacher-leaders in facilitating the development of the professional capacity of school personnel in sheltered instruction techniques.

Next, we will watch the first of three videos that represent the three components of the New Jersey Principal Evaluation for Professional Learning Process. Each of these videos is an abridged simulation of what an actual conference might look like.

1. Watch the annual planning and goal-setting conference between a superintendent and principal (5 minutes)
2. While watching the video:
   1. Take note of the objectives and outcomes of the conference
   2. Be prepared to discuss the ways in which the conference meets the criteria of the NJPEPL Process and in which ways it might be improved
3. After watching the video:
   1. Discuss your findings with a partner (5 minutes)
   2. Discuss with the whole group (10 minutes)

Superintendent: Tom, we're gonna start by looking ahead toward the year and setting some goals for the year. And in doing so, you brought some data that you looked at over the summer and analyzed some of your PARCC scores. Then you mentioned that you felt that your students needed some help and needed some support with writing and writing informational text. So talk about that and what your data shows a little bit.

Principal: So when we reviewed the evidence, the evidence statements, this analysis showed us, for grades three and four for the upper elementary. We decided it would be good to work with grades three and four because then we can have a continuum for next year. Because the fourth graders would be fifth graders, third graders will be fourth graders.

Then one of the areas that we found, although we did really well, one of the areas that we found that needed some work was the research simulations. So, addressing that area will be perfect for informational text and in doing that with the third and fourth grade teachers.

At Zane North we have Kim Fom who is our writing expert. Then she could guide the teachers in a collaborative co-teaching simulation in the classroom, where she could mentor the teachers, the teachers can work with her and then we could get this kind of like the scope of the sequence of the writing sessions to strengthen informational texts and our highest area was narrative writing.

So we were going to address how we can shift narrative writing towards the end of the scope and sequence, and move the research simulation, which is the informational text, a little bit forward so the students would have more face time with that.

Superintendent: Earlier this summer we sat down during one of your administrative retreats and talked about the data from across the district so each of our principals had their data from PARRC and then also their evidence tables. We looked at any common areas where our students may need some help and support and we may want to do some adjustments. So talk a little bit about the process that you went through as an administrative, as an elementary administrative team.

Principal: So as an administrative team, there's five elementary principals. We meet on a monthly basis and also at the retreat where we meet together, we kind of review and reflect on what works well and what we need to tweak for the future. When we were reviewing the data that we had, three of us felt that there was an area of need that we would like to address together.

Superintendent: So the team sat down and three of you came up with the informational writing piece as one of your goals and you set a goal. So I have a copy of your draft administrative goal and you talked about which I think is great. You talk about working not only setting a goal, but then turning around with that goal and working to improve your own skills in that area in your own knowledge of the area and then also to work with your teachers.

So your plan moving ahead for the rest of the school year you've identified an administrative goal which I think is a great one, based upon the Writing Pathways book. You are gonna use this book as part of your professional development for yourself and familiarizing yourself with what's in here and then also use it with your teachers and your grade three and grade four teachers which is the focus of your goal.

Principal: Right.

Superintendent: Okay, so as the result your goal matches I'm going to assume your goal is going to match closely with your third and fourth grade, one of the SGOs for your third and fourth grade teachers.

Principal: Right.

Superintendent: So that's good. So it all ties together. And I think it's great and it makes sense that your administrative goal, your administrative PD, the teachers’ SGO and the teacher PD. So your plan for those teachers is all going to come together. So now we'll switch from talking about the process over the summer and the administrative goals and your PD into talking about the evaluation instrument. So when we look at the evaluation instrument there are seven different domains that have been identified. If we try to focus on pick one priority domain for you, which of the seven would you think given your goal in your own PD, which of the seven do you think you would want to focus on as your priority domain?

Principal: The third one.

Superintendent: The third one, so that's your professional capacity of school personnel which makes sense, because that's really what you're going to spend who your working with that subset of teachers. You'll be working with them not only from your own school, but also from across the districts so you can learn together and learn from each other. So I think that's great.

As you go through the professional capacity of personnel, obviously your ultimate goal there is also to help improve curriculum instruction and assessment across the district and we'll take a look moving forward, where we are going to take a look at how the professional development is actually translating into the classroom. So as we work our way through the first window, so the difference a little bit of a difference in this observation tool is that we're not really looking at a snapshot in time, we're looking over a window a period of time.

So the first window is going to be around the winter recess time, so through the fall maybe just past the holiday break into January and then we'll meet again at that time to discuss your progress with these goals. So how are you going to address that first goal of the professional capacity of your staff during that first window?

Principal: So for us collaboration is really important that big C critical thinking collaboration, communication and creativity. So those four C's work together when you're not in a silo. So working together with the other administrators and the other grade cohort teachers in grades 3 and 4. We decided collectively that we need to meet several times a year. We're going to refer to Lucy Cawkins Writing Pathways book. And we're going to use the information and the text with the teachers and ourselves as instructional leaders. And that professional development we're going to designate specific chapters that we need to refer to. To give us information to provide evidence towards informational writing.

Then we're going to create an agenda from that. And part of that is going to be students informational writing themselves on demand 45 minutes will do like a pre, will do a post with children and then we'll have collegial scoring with the teachers together. Assessing the students’ work and then our hope is that the students will maximize growth by gaining at least 7 points on each of the essays that they write.

Superintendent: And that goes back to your to your administrative goal which is good. During that window I'll take several opportunities to see, kind of observe and collect evidence on what you've done particularly for that that domain and that within that domain. So let me know when you are scheduling those meetings, those PD meetings, and I'll be sure to come over and observe some of that work.

And then you and I, as we do regularly, can visit some of the classrooms not only watch the teachers in action with that after that PD. But also speak to them and give them a chance to reflect on what's working, maybe what's not working and what they see is some of the positive benefits of the professional development.

Principal: One of the best ways to come in would be to come into our writing class. And that's the collaborative joint venture that we have with the third grade teacher, the fourth grade teacher as you know and our co-teacher. So what happens is during that writing session ,the lead writing teacher takes the lead, but the grade level teacher is in the classroom with the students. And it's kind of like a co-teaching experience.

Some of the good things is technology is integrated and so it's not just the writing component on informational text, but we're using technology resources. We kind of infuse STEM as best as we can with the critical thinking aspect and also with the teacher being in the classroom it's not a bad idea for you to be able to see how she takes those components of writing and makes it cross-curricular. So when she goes back they kind of have an ongoing discussion between the writing teacher and the third or the fourth grade teacher in context of social studies and science, any of the literacy that they're doing in the classroom and even a math problem solving and how they write out their answers and giving evidence for a problem solving and solutions.

So, that might not be a bad idea to pop in and see the rating program at Zane North which has a little different flair to it than some of the other schools. And then how we work together in a collaborative way in the writing program, but also in the classroom too because then it's cross curricular. So that might be good idea for you to see.

Superintendent: Great, I will do that.

The previous video provides a brief window into a more detailed and lengthy conversation. In this brief snippet the superintendent and principal’s conversation covered many areas that should be discussed in the annual planning and goal-setting conference.

Strengths

Strengths of the conference include the following:

• Goals were linked to school and district data, and
• Observation protocols were discussed such as the use of a window of time, priority domains and potential school visit opportunities

Areas for Further Discussion

Other areas were briefly mentioned and would warrant further discussion when time allows such as:

• A discussion of the principal’s Professional Development Plan,
• Clearly defining observation windows, and
• An agreement on potential sources of evidence for observations

In the following activity, we will be preparing for an upcoming annual planning and goal-setting conference. If time allows and the appropriate data is available, this activity may be completed as part of this training video. Alternatively, this activity could be completed at a more convenient time prior to the planning conference.

Materials

You will need access to the following materials:

• Student performance data
• Your annual summary conference form from the most recent evaluation cycle
• Your current PDP
• Available survey data
• Current district goals
• Any other relevant information that might help inform your administrator and professional development goals.

Activity

• Review relevant school and performance evaluation data. Identify major patterns including successes and areas for improvement.
• Identify one to three priority areas for school growth for the following year.
• Identify one to three areas of professional growth based on your performance evaluation.
• Identify any other areas of growth based on completion of the PSEL Leadership Reflection and Growth Tool or other self-reflection process.
• In what areas of professional practice might your PDP be modified to support your growth in these areas?
• For which school improvement priority might an administrator goal be developed?

If you choose to work on this activity now, please pause the video.