NJ: 'C' FOR POLICIES RELATING TO NEW TEACHERS

A report by the not-for-profit, non-partisan National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) finds that New Jersey's policies for new teachers are in need of improvement.

NCTQ' looked at three areas of state policy that impact new teachers. New Jersey earned the following grades, earning the state an overall grade of C:

• Identifying Effective New Teachers – D

• Retaining Effective New Teachers – C-

• Exiting Ineffective New Teachers – B

NCTQ President Kate Walsh said, “The third through fifth years of teaching represent an opportunity lost for teacher quality. That’s certainly when teachers begin to add real value, and it’s also when they tend to make decisions about staying or leaving. Although New Jersey is showing some signs of progress, it can help districts do much more to ensure that the right teachers stay and the right teachers leave."

Walsh continued: “Many states argue that their school accountability systems nullify the need to intervene, and that setting the sort of requirements that would lead to better decision making about teachers would be overstepping their role. Such arguments hold little sway, as states already intervene substantially on teacher issues, they just don't do so productively. Further, states should not overlook their responsibility to ensure that all students—especially children in poverty –have quality teachers. Every problem hasn't been solved simply because states see a few upticks in their test scores.

“Even if there were only one classroom of children in an entire state that was ill served by a teacher, states have an obligation to those children.”

While school districts are certainly key players in shaping the quality of their own teaching force, the public may not fully appreciate the considerable and increasingly critical role played by states. Without exception, state laws and regulations touch upon every aspect of the teaching profession, having a measurable impact on the quality of new teachers.

Among the findings about New Jersey:

• Although New Jersey controls how and when its local districts may award teachers tenure, it does not require districts to collect any evidence of teacher effectiveness as part of that determination.

• New Jersey's pay and benefit policies for teachers—including the state-run retirement system—disadvantage newer teachers, offering inadequate incentives to stay in teaching.

• New Jersey does not articulate consequences that districts must follow for teachers that are rated unsatisfactory on their evaluations.

Despite these findings, New Jersey has some bright spots, including its requirement of multiple formal evaluations for new teachers and its effort to close loopholes that allow teachers who have not met licensure requirements to continue teaching.