Official Site of The State of New Jersey
Teacher Evaluation
AchieveNJ relies on multiple measures of performance to evaluate teachers. These measures include components of both student achievement and teacher practice. While all New Jersey teachers receive an annual summative evaluation rating of Highly Effective, Effective, Partially Effective, or Ineffective, the components used to determine these ratings vary depending on the grades and subjects that educators teach.
Per New Jersey Administrative Code for Educator Effectiveness (N.J.A.C. 6A:10), "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.
The Office of Educator Evaluation is engaged in improving teaching and learning by providing educators with the feedback they need to improve their practice. The measures of the teacher evaluation system provide a holistic look at a teacher’s effectiveness through both teacher practice and impact on student achievement.
Evaluation Scoring
Teacher evaluation scores are the combination of teacher practice and student achievement measures. These weights vary depending on whether a teacher is Student Growth Percentile (SGP) eligible. Final summative scores for teachers are designed to drive a teacher’s professional development and accrual of tenure.
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. The Summative Score Calculator can assist districts in calculating official summative ratings.
Components of the Summative Rating
The summative rating includes the:
- Teacher Practice score
- Student Growth Objective (SGO) score
- Median Student Growth Percentile (mSGP) score
Calculating the Summative Rating
All teachers receive a practice score, based on classroom observations, and a score based on student growth objectives (SGOs). English Language Arts and Mathematics teachers of tested grades also receive a score for their median student growth percentile (mSGP), based on state assessment performance.
Teachers without a mSGP Score
The calculation for the summative rating is:
$(\text{Practice Score}\times 0.85) +(\text{SGO}\times 0.15) = \text{Summative Rating}$
Teachers with a mSGP Score
Teachers of English language arts (grades 4–8) or mathematics (grades 4–7)
The calculation for the summative rating is:
$(\text{Practice Score}\times 0.7)+ (\text{SGO}\times 0.25)+(\text{mSGP}\times 0.05)=\text{Summative Rating}$