The annual summary conference provides an opportunity for a formal review of the principal’s successes and areas of growth and establishes a foundation for the next evaluation cycle. The superintendent must hold an annual summary conference with the principal prior to filing the final performance report and by June 30 of the evaluation year.

In preparation for this conference the superintendent may provide the principal with an observation report from the final observation window, if the conference will include the final post-observation conference. The principal should submit their completed administrator goals and professional development plan (PDP) and the superintendent prepares a preliminary annual performance review with a summative rating, if applicable.

In many cases, a summative rating cannot be calculated in time for the annual conference because all evaluation components, including those based on student achievement may not be available. However, all available component scores should be shared at the time of the conference.

[Text on Screen] An annual summary conference must be held prior to the filing of the final performance report and by June 30.
In Advance

1. Superintendent provides the principal with an observation report from the final observation window
2. Principal submits completed Administrator Goals and PDP to the superintendent
3. Superintendent prepares a preliminary annual performance report with summative rating, if applicable.

A summative rating can only be calculated if all components of the principal’s evaluation are available, including those based on student achievement.

The annual summary conference itself can be broken down into several activities. The underlying goal of these activities is to reflect on the successes and challenges of the year and begin planning for the next year.

1. Discuss evidence gathered regarding practice and provide a final observation score
2. Discuss attainment of administrator goals and related scores
3. Discuss the SGO average score, provide a summative score, if available, and review the preliminary annual performance report
4. Discuss progress on (the principal’s) PDP
5. Discuss strengths and potential areas for growth and development

Here is the last of three videos that represent the three components of the New Jersey Principal Evaluation for Professional Learning Process. This abridged simulation shows the annual summary 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 those in which it might be improved. After watching the video, discuss your findings with a partner and then discuss with the whole group.

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.

Superintendent: All right, Tom. So, now we're going to take a look at the very beginning of the school year. You met with your administrative team, you identified some goals, you identified based on data, some goals with two of your colleagues for their schools. So, the three schools working together. Then you came up with some very specific, very specific administrative goals for yourself. You tied your professional development (PD) into that nicely, your own personal PD, and then tied in the PD and the student growth objectives (SGOs) for your staff all into that goal.

So, everybody's, as I say all the time, everybody's rowing in the same direction. So, I think that was strong. So, now your goal is really going to be based upon the SGOs of your teachers and hopefully the PD that you provided led to improvement in student achievement and student scores. So, for your third grade and your fourth grade teachers, they had very specific SGOs based upon the rubric in the Writing Pathways book. So, now you've done a pretest pre assessment with those students and now you've done the post assessment. How did they do?

Principal: Right. So, this will be an example of a student that was in third grade. This would be the pre rate informational piece and this would be the post and you can see how it addresses transitions, content, closing, etc. All the factors that are in the rubric were scored.

So, this will be example of pre, and it shows the growth of the student for third and fourth grade students, and then what I do is I meet with the teachers as you know on a monthly basis. We have a teacher meeting. So, I have a teacher meeting and they come with me and we share information.

So, part of the process was sharing the growth per student to see how they actually scored and then these document that. So, this shows the students in grades three, the students grade four, their growth, where students were excelled and where students met it and we did have areas that may have been a concern that we need to address with staff, but, all-in-all, they both passed as far as they met the criteria.

Superintendent: Their SGO.

Principal: Right, they met their SGO.

Superintendent: So, it does say your teachers listed the growth, the increase in scores and I know your goal were to have them increased seven points across the rubric. It looks like with the exception of just three or four, two or three students that they all met that goal. So, that's great. In doing so, you receive those scores, you see those scores hopefully as a result of some of the PD that you provided.

So, in this last window of time that we've reviewed, I know because I came over, that your teachers met again as a group. So, your third grade teachers all met, met with other third grade teachers in the district and the fourth grade teachers did the same. Talk to me to walk me through that process of what they did. They gave their assessment, their post assessment and then came together again.

Principal: So, I guess the key component for us is not just the score or the number, because we are not just about that result. Even though the results are important, it's the process. And so, we wanted to make sure that we are addressing student growth. You know you taught us or showed us two examples of the growth mindset.

So, growing in rating was really important. Growing this score was the outcome of the process, but the mindset was really important for the staff, for myself, for our colleagues together. So, the rating of informational text has grown this year and the end result is a positive outcome for everyone. I just always like to say it's not always the score, even though that is important, it's the process, it’s dynamic, it's the infusion of everybody working together, and I think we did that really well.

Superintendent: Because part of the focus, your standard that we're focusing on this year is that professional capacity, and part of that professional capacity is that we're in the people business. Your teachers have certainly grown and we've seen that as we went into classrooms, we've seen that when we went into the writing classroom, that writing not only the curriculum looks a little different this year because we've shifted some things around, but what they're doing the process and the individual segments of how they're teaching writing, look a little bit different.

Principal: So, I think giving the teachers a voice in that process throughout the school year by having PD the way that we did it this year, made it work, work for us as administrators that made it work well for the teachers. And I think working together the outcome was the students’ grew.

Superintendent: Tom, So, we're looking back at your goal for this year which really kind of married the goal that we focused on the domain, that we focused on was building the professional capacity of staff. You talked a lot about how you work with your staff not only in your building but from schools across the district and with your colleagues, your administrators to help build that professional capacity in the area of informational text.

So, now what I’m doing with all the administrators during this final conference is I'd like to focus on next year and one of the areas I really like you to spend some time thinking about the mission and the vision of your school. So, what is it when a student leaves your school after fifth grade, what do you want them to have mastered, what do you want them to be the best at? When a Middle School teacher sees that student and interacts with that student, how do you want that Middle School teacher to know that that student came from your school? What is your mission and vision to kind of set your students apart from anywhere and how does that relate back to the goals that you have this year?

Principal: So, we’re Zane North Stars. So, that's kind of like our logo, we're stars, So, every student shines at a different time and we tell the students, you're born to shine. We look at the students at the different levels of where they're at and everybody has a gift, talent and ability and we want to bring that out in them. So, this year we addressed informational text at all the different levels for the students and they all grew. We met our standards and our goals and we have the professional capacity to join together in a collaborative nature at Zane North. So, the staff is working together and then we pull in all the other resources that we can with the Child Study team, with you, with the superintendents, with the board's direction. All those things pull together for our vision for next year.

Superintendent: So, how do you transition this year's goal to a bigger goal like a multi-year goal? Do you see this fitting into anything you're going to do next year? What you've done this year?

Principal: We do. So, part of the learning that we take place is holistic like I mentioned a little bit earlier and it takes in the classroom, in the hallways, in the cafeteria and out on the playground. So, we developed a whole new context of learning. So, outside doesn't just become recreational it becomes instructional and informational text takes place outside especially in the area of science.

So, we have science learning sessions taking place on our new, what we call living learning landscape that we've been developing over the last several years. We have a mini amphitheater where the teachers go outside and do science instruction, they do literacy instruction. There's a lot of informational gathering that takes place outside.

So, our outdoor space has become not only recreational but instructional, it becomes instructional, it becomes informational. As this becomes informational So, the students use that knowledge base to grow wisdom So, they become leaders in the new 21st century positions I guess you can say.

Superintendent: So, looking ahead to next year's goal when you think about, I know we haven't mapped this out completely yet but we've talked a little bit about what you plan to do next year with professional development. So, next year professional development’s on you at the school level. What areas do you plan to focus on next year?

Principal: So, it's going to be multi, because it'll be cover several years. I don't think we can do stem in just like one year. So, I think we'll probably start since part of our conversation this year was the new science standards. We're going to address science in the STEM piece and the authentic piece will take place in the classroom and outside as well and the teachers have been given the opportunity through a grant to purchase science materials.

So, there's going to be workshop model center experience, authentic learning for the students to take information but do it hands-on and grow. So, it'll be very most motivational for the students and informational and I think that'll be the context of really sparking the stem movement whether it's in the art piece or in the math. Once the students have that authentic learning experience in the school, outside of school, it'll be very holistic for them. Their parents will love it and will get a lot of parent engagement and support and this new move for 21st century learning.

Superintendent: So, to wrap this up you are really looking at not only years moving ahead, but alSo, things that we've done in the past. So, we've done a lot of work on science this year. You've done a lot of work for a decade on in character education. So, we believe in educating the whole child and we alSo, believe in educating those kind of individual elements of the child.

This year we focus on informational texts. We did a lot of work within science as well and moving ahead to next year we're really going to stretch that out into the more STEM and STEAM based learning. And one thing that you've done here over the last three or four years is really recreate your outdoor space to make it a learning space as well. And in doing so, you've addressed a number of the other standards because that took a lot of organization So, that's that management and organizational capacity piece and also, really engaged the community and deeply engaged the community in something that was meaningful.

So, when the community is done with that project, when you working with the community and that group is done with that project, your school is going to look fundamentally different than it did say five years ago.

Principal: And a good thing is even parents who have moved on to the Middle School, like one of the parents on our Green Team doesn't have children in school but he's still on her Green Team.

Superintendent: And that's good because he still member the community.

Principal: Yeah So, he's invited and he participates and the conversation continues So, we're excited to see how that has grown. The students who leave, leave as leaders and when they have the leadership role, they realize it's not compartmentalized but it gives them a global vision really.

Superintendent: Excellent. Thank you.

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 summary conference.

Strengths seen were a discussion of next year and developing a multi year goal, discussion of SGO and administrator goal results and a summary of the principal’s strengths

Conference Strengths

• Discussion of next year and a multi-year goal
• Discussion of SGO and principal goal results
• Summary of principal's strengths

Conference Suggestions

A complete conference would include a discussion of component scores and a summative score, if available. It would also include more thorough discussion of progress on the principal's PDP.

• Discuss component scores and the summative score, if available
• Discuss progress on the PDP more thoroughly