NORTHFIELD board of education FILE CODE: 2130
Northfield, New Jersey X Monitored
X Mandated
Policy X Other Reasons
principal evaluation
The board of education believes that the evaluation of effective leadership and administration practices improves success in the achievement of the educational goals of this district, including student achievement of the New Jersey Student Learning Standards. The board shall implement an effective system for the evaluation of principals, assistant principals, and vice-principals. The purpose of this evaluation shall be to promote professional excellence and improve the skills of principals, assistant principals and vice-principals; improve student learning and growth; and provide a basis for the review of performance. The board is committed to establishing educator evaluation rubrics for the evaluation of administrative staff members’ effectiveness to further the development of a professional corps of State educators and to increase student achievement. The district evaluation system shall facilitate:
- Continual improvement of leadership and instruction;
- Meaningful differentiation of performance using four performance levels;
- Use of multiple valid measures in determining performance levels, including objective measures of student performance and measures of professional practice;
- Evaluation of principals, assistant principals and vice-principals on a regular basis;
- Delivery of clear, timely and useful feedback, including feedback that identifies areas for growth and guides professional development; and
- District personnel decisions.
Evaluation Rubrics
Annually, on or before June 1, the board will submit to the Commissioner of Education, the evaluation rubric(s) to be used to assess the effectiveness of principals, vice principals, and assistant principals for the Commissioner’s approval. The board shall ensure that the evaluation rubric complies with the standards established by the State Board of Education and currently established at N.J.S.A. 18A:6-123 and codified at N.J.A.C.6A:10-5.1 and as detailed in board regulation at this file code (2130), including but not limited to:
- Measures of student achievement;
- And measures of principal practice including observation.
In the event that a timely submission of an evaluation rubric for approval is not made, the model rubric shall be used to assess the effectiveness of principals, vice principals, and assistant principals.
Training
Prior to conducting an observation for the evaluation of a principal, the Superintendent/designee shall complete training in the evaluation rubric approved for the principal title. The evaluation rubric must have been approved by the Commissioner of Education and the board prior to its use in the district as an evaluative measure. The Superintendent shall be trained on the components of the evaluation rubric including student achievement measures and all aspects of the practice instrument.
Prior to conducting an observation for the evaluation of a vice principal or assistant principal, the Superintendent/designee or principal shall complete training in the evaluation rubric approved for the vice principal or assistant principal title. The evaluation rubric must have been approved by the Commissioner of Education and the board prior to its use in the district as an evaluative measure.
Collective Bargaining
No collective bargaining agreement entered into after July 1, 2013 may contain terms that conflict with any provision of board policy and regulation and the Teacher Effectiveness and Accountability for the Children of New Jersey Act (N.J.S.A. 18A:6-117 et seq.). The district’s Commissioner approved evaluation rubric shall not be subject to collective negotiations.
Principal Evaluation
The components of the principal evaluation rubric shall apply to professional staff members appointed to the position of principal, vice principal, or assistant principal and holding a valid and effective standard, provisional, or emergency administrative certificate issued by the State Board of Examiners.
The principal evaluation rubric shall meet the standards provided in N.J.S.A. 18A:6-123 and N.J.A.C. 6A:10-5.1, including, but not limited to:
- Student achievement;
- Principal practice; and
- Principal observations.
The Superintendent or his designee and the principal, as appropriate, shall conduct a mid-year evaluation of any principal, assistant principal, or vice-principal who is evaluated as ineffective or partially effective in his most recent annual summative evaluation.
Principal, Assistant Principal, and Vice Principal Observations
The Superintendent, or his or her designee, shall conduct observations for the evaluation of principals.
A principal, or a Superintendent or his or her designee, shall conduct observations for the evaluation of assistant principals and vice principals. For the purpose of collecting data for the evaluation of a principal, assistant principal, or vice principal, an observation may include, but is not limited to: building walk-through, staff meeting observation, parent conference observation, or case study analysis of a significant student issue.
Each tenured principal, assistant principal, and vice principal shall be observed at least two times during each school year. Each non-tenured principal, assistant principal, and vice principal shall be observed at least three times during each school year, as required by N.J.S.A. 18A:27-3.1. During the first year of employment, the three required observations shall be completed by April 30. The number of required observations shall be prorated if the principal, assistant principal or vice principal has been employed for less than one academic year on April 30.
Each evaluation shall be followed by a post-observation conference between the principal, assistant principal or vice principal and his or her superiors in order to determine whether recommend re-appointment, identify any deficiencies, extend assistance for their correction and improve professional competence. The post-observation conference shall consist of a meeting, either in-person or remotely, between the evaluator and the principal, assistant principal or vice-principal to discuss the data collected in the observation. Post observation conferences shall be conducted according to law and board procedure (see: 2130 Principal Evaluation, Regulation).
An additional observation and post-observation conference shall be required as part of the corrective action plan for any principal, assistant principal or vice-principal who has been rated ineffective or partially effective on the annual summative evaluation, as measured by the evaluation rubrics. The Superintendent or principal shall determine the length of the observation.
Professional Development Plans
The Superintendent shall oversee and review for each principal and supervisor, professional development that links to individual, school, and district professional development goals and the school district’s professional development plan. The individual professional development plans shall be derived from the results of observations, evidence, and recommendations included in the annual performance evaluation of the principal, assistant principal or vice-principal (see: 2130 Principal Evaluation, Regulation and board policy 4131/4131.1 Staff Development).
Corrective Action Plans
Each principal, assistant principal or vice-principal, rated ineffective or partially effective on the annual summative evaluation, as measured by the evaluation rubrics, shall develop a corrective action plan in consultation with the Superintendent/designee. The corrective action plan shall be developed and conducted according law and board procedure 2130 Principal Evaluation, Regulation.
The content of the corrective action plan shall replace the content of the individual professional development plan required in N.J.A.C. 6A:9C-3.4(c) and 3.7(c) until the next annual summary conference. The corrective action plan shall remain in effect until the school leader receives his or her next summative evaluation rating.
The content of the corrective action plan shall:
- Address areas in need of improvement identified in the evaluation rubric that resulted in the partially ineffective or ineffective rating;
- Include specific, demonstrable goals for improvement;
- Include responsibilities of the evaluated employee and the school district for the plan’s implementation; and
- Include timelines for meeting the goal(s).
The corrective action plan shall remain in effect until the principal, assistant principal or vice-principal receives his or her next summative evaluation rating.
There shall be no minimum number of teaching staff member working days that a teaching staff member’s corrective action plan can be in place.
Records
The board shall ensure all written performance reports and supporting data, including, but not limited to, written observation reports and additional components of the summative evaluation rating as part the teaching staff member’s personnel file, or in an alternative, confidential location. If reports and data are stored in an alternative location, the personnel file shall clearly indicate the report’s location and how it can be easily accessed. The records shall be confidential and shall not be subject to public inspection or copying pursuant to the Open Public Records Act, N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et seq.
All information contained in annual performance reports and all information collected, compiled, and/or maintained by employees of a district board of education for the purposes of conducting the educator evaluation process, including, but not limited to, digital records, shall be confidential. Such information shall not be subject to public inspection or copying pursuant to the Open Public Records Act, N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et seq. Nothing contained in this policy shall be construed to prohibit the New Jersey Department of Education or the district from, at its discretion, collecting evaluation data or distributing aggregate statistics regarding evaluation data.
Certification
Annually, the Superintendent shall certify to the Department of Education that all supervisors of teaching staff members in the school district who are utilizing educator practice instruments have completed training on the instrument and its application and have demonstrated competency in applying the educator practice instruments.
NJSBA Review/Update:
Adopted: February 2018
Key Words
Evaluation, Principal Evaluation, Personnel Evaluation, Principal, Assistant Principal, Vice-Principal Evaluation Rubric
Legal References: N.J.S.A. 18A:4‑15 General rule‑making power, State Board of Education
N.J.S.A. 18A:4-16 Incidental powers conferred, State Board of Education
N.J.S.A. 18A:6‑10 et seq. Dismissal and reduction in compensation of persons
under tenure in public school system
N.J.S.A. 18A:6-117 et seq. Teacher Effectiveness and Accountability for the Children See particularly: of New Jersey (TEACHNJ) Act
N.J.S.A. 18A:6-119 Definitions relative to the TEACHNJ Act
N.J.S.A. 18A:6-120 School improvement panel
N.J.S.A. 18A:6-121 Evaluation of principal, assistant principal, vice-principal
N.J.S.A. 18A:6-122 Annual submission of evaluation rubrics
N.J.S.A. 18A:6-123 Review, approval of evaluation rubrics
N.J.S.A. 18A:6-126 Conflicts with collective negotiations agreements
N.J.S.A. 18A:6-127 Research-based mentoring program
N.J.S.A. 18A:6-128 Ongoing professional development; corrective action plan
N.J.S.A. 18A:26-8.2 “School leader” defined; training as part of professional
development
N.J.S.A. 18A:27‑3.1 Evaluation of non‑tenured teaching staff
through ‑3.3
N.J.S.A. 18A:27-4 Power of boards of education to make rules governing employment of teacher
N.J.S.A. 18A:27-4.1 Board of Education, procedure for certain personnel actions
N.J.S.A. 18A:27-10 et seq. Nontenured teaching staff member; offer of employment for next succeeding year or notice of termination before May 31
N.J.S.A. 18A:28‑5 Requirements for tenure
N.J.S.A. 18A:28-5.1 Tenure upon transfer to an underperforming school
N.J.S.A. 18A:29‑14 Withholding increments; causes; notice of appeals
N.J.A.C. 6A:9C-1.1 et seq. Required professional development for teachers
See particularly: and school leaders
N.J.A.C. 6A:9C-3.2 Components of professional development
N.J.A.C. 6A:9C-3.3 Standards for professional learning
N.J.A.C. 6A:9C-4.2 District- and school-level plans for professional development implementation
N.J.A.C. 6A:9C-4.3 Requirements for and implementation of school leaders’ individual professional development plans
N.J.A.C. 6A:10-1.1 et seq. Educator effectiveness
See particularly:
N.J.A.C. 6A:10-1.2 Definitions
N.J.A.C. 6A:10-2.2 Duties of district boards of education
N.J.A.C. 6A:10-5.1 et seq. Components of principal evaluation
See particularly:
N.J.A.C. 6A:10-5.1 Components of principal evaluation rubrics
through -5.3
N.J.A.C. 6A:10-5.4 Principal, assistant principal and vice-principals observations
N.J.A.C. 6A:32-5.1 et seq. Standards for determining seniority
Possible
Cross References: *2131 Superintendent
*4112.6/4212.6 Personnel records
*4115 Supervision
*4116 Evaluation
*4117.41 Nonrenewal
*4131/4131.1 Staff development; inservice education/visitations/conferences
*4215 Supervision
*4216 Evaluation
*4231/4231.1 Staff development; inservice education/visitations/conferences
*6143.1 Lesson plans
*Indicates policy is included in the Critical Policy Reference Manual.