Once the annual planning and goal-setting conference has occurred, observations and their associated post-observation conferences can begin.

[Step Two: Observations and Post-Observation Conferences. This will be followed by Step Three: Annual Summary Conference. Finally, Guidance for Other Administrators will conclude.]

Observations of principals are governed by the rules found in AchieveNJ:

1. School leader supervisors must conduct at least two observations for tenured, and three for non-tenured principals, assistant principals and vice principals.
2. They must include a post-observation conference within 15 working days following the observation and may use the annual summary conference for the final post-observation conference.
3. Observations must be conducted using a state-approved principal practice instrument

[Text on Screen]

1. Conduct at least two observations for tenured and three for non-tenured principals, assistant principals and vice principals
2. Include a post-observation conference within 15 working days following the observation. The annual summary conference may be used for the final post-observation conference
3. Gather evidence for the observation using a state-approved principal practice instrument

[Diagram shown on screen: Timeline with observation 1 occuring between October and November and observation 2 occuring between March and April.]

It is common for districts to conduct observations for principals in the same way they conduct classroom observations for teachers. For principals, this typically consists of one superintendent visit to the school per observation. After the visit, the superintendent and principal debrief in a post-observation conference.

While single-point observations for principals are acceptable under AchieveNJ rules, superintendents may find it challenging to collect the breadth of evidence necessary to accurately and fairly evaluate the diverse nature of the practice of their school leaders. For the New Jersey Principal Evaluation Professional Learning (NJPEPL) Process, we do not recommend using this method of observation.

[same timeline shown on scren with a red X drawn over it to]

Instead, the NJPEPL Process uses a portfolio approach for observations to provide a more comprehensive picture of the principal’s work. We recommend using an observation window of 2 to 3 months during which evidence is collected by the superintendent and shared by the principal. The exact timeframe and types of evidence collected for the portfolio should be determined at the annual planning and goal-setting conference.

Portfolio of Evidence

[cycle diagram shown on screen]

1. Annual planning and goal-setting conference: July to September
2. Observations
   1. Observation window 1: September to December
   2. Post-observation conference 1: December
   3. Observation window 2: December to March
   4. Post-observation conference 2: March
3. Annual summary conference: March to June

Note: add an observation for non-tenured.

As mentioned in the annual planning and goal-setting conference video, observation evidence can be classified as direct or indirect.

Direct Evidence

Direct evidence is collected while the superintendent observes and the principal is present and leading.

Examples include, but are not limited to:

• teacher post-observation conferences
• instructional rounds
• hiring interviews
• faculty meetings

Indirect Evidence

Indirect evidence is collected when the superintendent is not present but evaluates the principal’s effectiveness through the actions and words of others and through artifacts.

Examples include, but are not limited to:

• data meetings led by a teacher-leaders
• stakeholder feedback on surveys
• testimonies of staff and students
• state test and benchmark testing results
• meeting agendas
• social media posts

This example shows direct and indirect evidence that might be collected and/or shared for Domain 3, Professional Capacity of School Personnel, as described by the NJPEPL observation instrument.

Direct Evidence

The superintendent attended one of the principal’s monthly faculty meetings during which the principal previewed an upcoming PD day. Teacher-leaders facilitated the remainder of meeting, conducting data review, and leading the planning and preparation for the professional development (PD) day. In this case, the superintendent witnessed the leadership of the principal directly.

Indirect Evidence

The superintendent also collected indirect evidence of the principal’s practice in form of artifacts that represent the principal’s work in domain 3. These artifacts included:

• agendas and meeting notes of grade level chairs leading professional learning communities (PLCs) focused on data and action,
• pineapple charts demonstrating teacher choice in the visitation of each other’s classrooms to observe lessons, and
• a schedule displaying teacher-led PD offered weekly in after school sessions.

The post-observation conference is a critical part of the evaluation process that when conducted well provides an important coaching and support opportunity for the principal. In the New Jersey Principal Evaluation Professional Learning (NJPEPL) process, the end of the observation window triggers the post-observation conference. This conference must be held within 15 working days of the end of the window and provides an opportunity for the principal and superintendent to debrief on the observation period and plan for next steps.

Preparing for the Conference

To prepare for this conference, in advance:

1. The principal and supervisor should independently review the administrator’s goals and professional development plan (PDP).
2. The principal should submit additional relevant evidence voluntarily and/or at the superintendent’s request.
3. Finally, the superintendent should prepare the observation report.

Post-observation conference must be held within 15 working days of end of observation window.

During the Conference

The post-observation conference itself can be broken down into five activities.

The principal and superintendent should:

1. Reflect on evidence gathered during the observation window
2. Discuss progress toward administrator goals and PDP
3. Review school and student data—including median studenth growth percentile (mSGP) scores, if available—to inform any course corrections in established priorities
4. Provide actionable feedback verbally and through the completed observation report, and finally
5. Provide the principal with an observation score

If this post-observation conference is combined with the annual summary conference at the end of the evaluation cycle, the observation score will be the final observation score for the year.

Five-Step Feedback Protocol

The conversation that occurs during the post-observation conference provides a powerful coaching opportunity. When conducting the conference, consider the following five step feedback protocol to maximize the value of these conversations.

Step 1: Praise—Narrate the Positive

Step 1 is praise: narrate the positive. Begin with praise by narrating the positive. For example, you might say “Over the past few months, I have been impressed by the way you provided leadership opportunities to your staff.” You may follow this opening with examples that concretely support your praise.

Step 2: Inquiry

Step 2 is inquiry. Start with a targeted question and add scaffolding as needed. For example, “How have best practices in sheltered instruction been spotlighted thus far?”

Step 3: Action Step

Step 3 is the action step. Use questions to lead to a concrete action step. For example, “Have you considered having teacher-leaders conduct follow-up coaching sessions at PLC meetings?”

Step 4: Plan Ahead

Step 4 is to plan ahead. Design or revise actions to implement the action step. For example, “Let’s take a look at the current responsibilities of these teachers to see if there is a way to offer extra coaching.”

Step 5: Timeline

Finally, set a timeline for follow-up. The superintendent might say, “Let’s revisit this during our next one on one next month.”

Next, we will watch the second of three videos that represent the three components of the New Jersey Principal Evaluation for Professional Learning Process. This abridged simulation shows a post-observation conference.

While watching the video, take note of the activities and protocols of the conference and be prepared to discuss the ways in which the conference meets the criteria of the NJPEPL Process and the ways in which it might be improved. After watching the video, discuss your findings with a partner and then discuss with the whole group.

[Text on Screen]

1. Watch a post-observation conference between a superintendent and principal (5 minutes)
   1. Take note of the activities and protocols used in the conference
   2. Be prepared to discuss the ways in which the conference meets the recommendations established by the NJPEPL Process and ways in which it might be improved
2. Discuss your findings with a partner (5 minutes)
3. Discuss your findings with the whole group (10 minutes)

Superintendent: Okay Tom, so no we're sitting down in your first observation conference.

So, we're through the fall and I know you have participated in and led some professional development with your staff. I'd like to take a look at, obviously there are seven domains that we take a look at during each observation throughout each observation window. We're going to focus on the professional development piece and then we'll talk a little bit about how that rolls into curriculum and instruction, because that really is the ultimate goal to improve the curriculum and instruction.

So, our process is, prior to me coming up, you go in to our system and you reflect upon each of the domains and basically outline the observation conference for me. So I know what we're going to discuss. And with each one of those domains you upload one or two pieces of evidence that you think help to support that domain.

So, I've looked at those and I've jotted down some notes on some of the strengths I believe that you've demonstrated, and then any questions I have, which I think we can answer here.

Okay, so throughout the fall directly I've come in and observed your professional development with the staff. So I saw you working with them. So, our third-grade teachers did a morning session, our fourth-grade teachers did an afternoon session. So, I watched that. And I watched, probably most importantly, the discussions that they had among themselves in terms of how to prioritize the content, how to prioritize their teaching throughout the year. And I thought that was well done.

Indirectly I've seen your agendas and I saw the agenda for the upcoming meeting as well. And it seems like there's a progression of ideas and concepts that you're going to cover with the teachers.

What have you done throughout the year to date at least to make sure that all this professional development and the resources that we're dedicating to the professional development is actually working?

Principal: So we want to make it authentic. So, the authentic piece comes into play when the teachers actually do a pre-writing on demand with the students. So, the teachers talked about that, they wanted to establish the norms.

Superintendent: That's one of the things that we know from their scores, and we know even from talking to the kids that they struggle with is that, not only the informational text that they have a little challenge with, but also that on-demand piece.

Principal: Right, so we had to come to terms on what the norms were going to be for that little period of time when the kids were going to write. And then basically we pulled together like a pre-writing component. So, we had the students in third and fourth grade do an on-demand informational piece of writing for 45 minutes. Then we would collect those pieces of information together. We would bring to our sessions and then we had sharing time among the teachers.

Also, always referring back to the Writing Pathways to the text to everything into the rubrics. Wo we were using the rubrics and really understanding the rubric. Having a detailed discussion about the specifics of the rubric, the point values in the rubrics.

Superintendent: So they’re scoring each other's?

Principal: Right, so they were exchanging work and then also discussing differentiation of instruction with certain students, you know students that needed to be challenged academically in the gifted range. So, there was a whole plethora of areas that were discussed. It wasn't just like specific and generic to third grade, fourth grade. It was tiered. It was layered.

Superintendent: So if I'm a third grade teacher and I have a student who's excelling using the rubric, I can.

Principal: Right, and we discussed why that would be scored on a higher range. Then the kids that were having difficulty what would qualify a score to be lower and how could we make an improvement. So, it was not just the piece of text, it was the piece of text then discussing the students’ ability levels. And then once we had their abilities, that will combine with the text how the scoring compared to the rubric and how it was aligned.

Then what type of plan of action we would take. How would we have the students that were having difficulty improve? How will we challenge those students who were making good progress to be enriched and even make further progress?

Superintendent: One of the challenges that we have here in the district is that each of our elementary schools is small. So, our second-grade teachers don't often have anybody to collaborate with. I think the other, the next piece of that is there's also not really anybody to set that standard with. So, give them the opportunity to get together and talk about what they considered their own personal standard and then the standard of the teacher who teaches across town or a couple teachers who teach on opposite sides of town. I think is also beneficial in this setting, because they don't have that on a daily basis.

Principal: And also, I think a good point about it is it develops relationships beyond just formal PD. So, the PD is one thing that we provide, but the professional, say the professionalism of the craft, is enhanced because the teachers bond with each other and they have their own discussions beyond the formal professional development. So, we've seen that progression take place with discussions that happen whether teachers come and visit our school or our teachers go to their school that really has enhanced the professional development.

Superintendent: And when I was in one of the other schools last week, we actually had a discussion with one of the fourth-grade teachers about what they learned from your writing teacher. So, they certainly are kind of gleaning skills and information from them from that teacher as well. So, I think that's a good opportunity for them to collaborate. So between now and the end of the year. Wo we'll have another post conference at the end of the year. What do you see happening through your administrative goals and your PD goals? How do you see that progressing between now and May or beginning of June?

Principal: So, you're going to pop up and visit and administrators are welcome to, but well, we have kind of have an open door where the teachers are going on with the focus on what our PD goal is which is writing informational text. We have adjusted some of the things with the scope and sequence, the timing of it. So that'll help as well and give us more substance, because we're giving it more face time. Then towards the end we're going to have like that the post writing piece. So, they did a prewriting piece then we'll have the post writing piece. Then we’ll come back together as a team, and then we'll score that. So again, the goal is to have that seven-point spread.

Superintendent: So, after the kids write again, you're going to have another PD session where they repeat that process.

Principal: Right. Right.

Superintendent: Good.

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 seen were preparation for the conference was clear, the priority domain was discussed, as was evidence of general progress. Had time allowed, the educators could have discussed the principal’s observation score, reviewed the administrator goal more thoroughly and discussed other domains and their related evidence.

Conference Strengths

1. Conference preparation was clear
2. Priority domain was discussed
3. Evidence of general progress discussed

Conference Suggestions

1. Provide an observation score
2. Conduct a more focused review of the goal
3. Discuss other domains and evidence