OVERVIEW OF TENURE LAW AND

VALUE-ADDED EVALUATION

Justin C. Perinotti
November 13, 2016

The Teacher Effectiveness

and Accountability for the
Children of New Jersey
legislation was signed by
Governor Christie on
August 6. Its goal is to
raise student achievement
by improving the
evaluation process.

What does this mean

for you as teachers?

In todays staff meeting, we will review the policy

in depth, focusing on the following key areas:
Tenure Eligibility
Evaluation Ratings
Professional Development
School Improvement Panel and Mentorship
Opportunities
Q&A

Tenure Eligibility Impact to Teachers hired after

August 6, 2012
Any new teacher, assistant principal, or vice principal hired after the
laws effective date will experience new requirements for tenure
eligibility. Those hired prior to this date will be grandfathered under
previous tenure law.
New Requirements (post- August 6)
District Mentorship Program: new teachers must complete a district
mentorship program in the first year of employment
After successful completion of the mentorship program, the teacher
must earn an effective or highly effective rating in two of three
subsequent years
For more information, reference P.L 2012, Chapter 26

Teacher Evaluation: new Requirements

Evaluation means a process based on the individuals job
description, professional standards and Statewide evaluation criteria
that incorporates analysis of multiple measures of student progress
and multiple data sources.
Student Growth Percentile (SGPs)
and non-SGP evaluation weights are
described in a chart to the right.
Feel free to discuss any questions
on this scale with me or your Vice
Principal during 1:1 meetings.

New Evaluation Terminology

The new tenure law includes some changes to evaluation
terminology used by the Department in the past.
Please become familiar with the updated definitions prior to
your evaluation periods commencement

Click here to read up on the new definitions and terminology.

Teacher Evaluation: Ineffective Ratings and their Impact

If any tenured teacher, principal or assistant principal is rated
ineffective or partially effective in two consecutive years, the
employee will be charged with inefficiency unless it is proven that
the evaluation process has not been followed.
As we briefly touched upon, evaluations should include the
following:
- Annual Summary Conference between teacher and principal
- Annual Written Performance Reports
- Summative Evaluation Rating inclusive of SGOs, SGPs and the
teachers practice
*The TEACHNJ Act outlines the complete process for evaluations and
inefficiency ratings. Please read up on this policy on the

Inefficiency Charges Overview of the Process

1. Teacher is rated ineffective or partially effective two consecutive
years
2. Charges are promptly filed by the superintendent with the local
board of education (BOE)
3. Within 30 days, the BOE forwards written charges to the
Commissioner, unless the board determines the evaluation process
has not been followed
4. After permitting the employee to submit a written response to the
charges, the Commissioner refers the case to an arbitrator to
determine potential loss of tenure
5. The filing of tenure charges may be deferred for another year for
employees rated partially effective in the second of two
consecutive years

Inefficiency Charges the 3 Year Period

Questions?

Professional Development
Individualized professional development plans as part of this
legislation will provide teachers with a written statement of goals to
align with professional standards for teachers
This teacher-centered approach to development will allow
struggling teachers an opportunity to earn extra professional
development.
The creation of a Corrective Action Plan for staff members rated
ineffective or partially effective will provide teachers the
opportunity to improve ahead of the following years evaluation
cycle

School Improvement Panel

As part of the new legislation, the district of the Chathams has
implemented a School Improvement Panel to oversee the
mentoring and evaluation of teachers and the identification of
professional development opportunities
This is a great mentorship opportunity, particularly for new teachers
(>5 years)to take advantage of!
Please see me or the Vice Principal for information on individuals
who are part of the Panel and to address any questions

Q&A