New Jersey Administrative Code › Title 6A - EDUCATION › Chapter 10 - EDUCATOR EFFECTIVENESS › Subchapter 1 - GENERAL PROVISIONS › Section 6A:10-1.2 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 14, July 15, 2024
The following words and terms shall have the following
				  meanings when used in this chapter, unless the context clearly indicates
				  otherwise:
"Announced observation" means an observation in which the
				  person conducting an observation for the purpose of evaluation will notify the
				  teaching staff member of the date and the class period that the observation
				  will be conducted.
"Annual performance report" means a written appraisal of the
				  teaching staff member's performance prepared by the teaching staff member's
				  designated supervisor based on the evaluation rubric for his or her
				  position.
"Annual summative evaluation rating" means an annual
				  evaluation rating that is based on appraisals of educator practice and student
				  performance, and includes all measures captured in a teaching staff member's
				  evaluation rubric. The four summative performance categories are highly
				  effective, effective, partially effective, and ineffective.
"Calibration" in the context of educator evaluation means a
				  process to monitor the competency of a trained evaluator to ensure the
				  evaluator continues to apply an educator practice instrument accurately and
				  consistently according to the standards and definitions of the specific
				  instrument.
"Chief school administrator" means the superintendent of
				  schools or the administrative principal if there is no superintendent.
"Co-observation" means two or more supervisors who are
				  trained on the practice instrument who observe simultaneously, or at alternate
				  times, the same lesson or portion of a lesson for the purpose of
				  training.
"Designated supervisor" means the supervisor designated by
				  the chief school administrator or his or her designee as the teaching staff
				  member's supervisor.
"District Evaluation Advisory Committee" means a group
				  created to oversee and guide the planning and implementation of the district
				  board of education's evaluation policies and procedures as set forth in
				  6A:10-2.3.
"Educator practice instrument" means an assessment tool that
				  provides scales or dimensions that capture competencies of professional
				  performance and differentiation of a range of professional performance as
				  described by the scales, which must be shown in practice and/or research
				  studies. The scores from the teacher practice instrument or the principal
				  practice instrument are components of the teaching staff member's evaluation
				  rubrics and the scores are included in the summative evaluation rating for the
				  individual. The scores from educator practice instruments for teaching staff
				  members other than teachers, principals, vice principals, and assistant
				  principals may be applied to the teaching staff member's summative evaluation
				  rating in a manner determined by the school district.
"Evaluation" means an appraisal of an individual's
				  professional performance in relation to his or her job description and
				  professional standards and based on, when applicable, the individual's
				  evaluation rubric.
"Evaluation rubric" means a set of criteria, measures, and
				  processes used to evaluate all teaching staff members in a specific school
				  district or local education agency. Evaluation rubrics consist of measures of
				  professional practice, based on educator practice instruments, and student
				  outcomes. Each district board of education will have an evaluation rubric
				  specifically for teachers, another specifically for principals, assistant
				  principals, and vice principals, and evaluation rubrics for other categories of
				  teaching staff members.
"Indicators of student progress and growth" means the results
				  of assessment(s) of students as defined in N.J.A.C. 6A:8, Standards and
				  Assessment.
"Individual professional development plan" means as defined
				  in 18A:6-119.
"Job description" means a written specification of the
				  function of a position, duties and responsibilities, the extent and limits of
				  authority, and work relationships within and outside the school and school
				  district.
"Long observation" means an observation for the purpose of
				  evaluation that is conducted for a minimum duration of 40 minutes or one class
				  period, whichever is shorter.
"Model evaluation rubric" means district educator evaluation
				  rubrics that have been reviewed and accepted by the Commissioner. A model
				  teaching or principal evaluation rubric includes a teacher or principal
				  practice instrument that appears on the Department's list of approved educator
				  practice instruments.
"Observation" means a method of collecting data on the
				  performance of a teaching staff member's assigned duties and responsibilities.
				  An observation for the purpose of evaluation will be included in the
				  determination of the annual summative evaluation rating and shall be conducted
				  by an individual employed in the school district in a supervisory role and
				  capacity and possessing a school administrator, principal, or supervisor
				  endorsement as defined in
				  N.J.A.C.
				  6A:9-2.1.
"Post-observation conference" means a meeting, either
				  in-person or remotely, between the supervisor who conducted the observation and
				  the teaching staff member for the purpose of evaluation to discuss the data
				  collected in the observation.
"Scoring guide" means a set of rules or criteria used to
				  evaluate a performance, product, or project. The purpose of a scoring guide is
				  to provide a transparent and reliable evaluation process. Educator practice
				  instruments include a scoring guide that an evaluator uses to structure his or
				  her assessments and ratings of professional practice.
"Semester" means half of the school year.
"Short observation" means an observation for the purpose of
				  evaluation that is conducted for at least 20 minutes.
"Signed" means the name of one physically written by oneself
				  or an electronic code, sound, symbol, or process attached to or logically
				  associated with a record and executed or adopted by a person with the intent to
				  sign the record.
"Student growth objective" means an academic goal that
				  teachers and evaluators set for groups of students.
"Student growth percentile" means a specific metric for
				  measuring individual student progress on Statewide assessments by tracking how
				  much a student's test scores have changed relative to other students Statewide
				  with similar scores in previous years.
"Student growth objective" means an academic goal that
				  teachers and designated supervisors set for groups of students.
"Supervisor" means an appropriately certified teaching staff
				  member, as defined in
				  N.J.S.A.
				  18A:1-1, or superintendent employed in the
				  school district in a supervisory role and capacity, and possessing a school
				  administrator, principal, or supervisor endorsement as described in N.J.A.C.
				  6A:9B-12.
"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.
"Teaching staff member" means a member of the professional
				  staff of any district or regional board of education, or any county vocational
				  school district board of education, holding office, position, or employment of
				  such character that the qualifications for such office, position, or employment
				  require him or her to hold a valid, effective, and appropriate standard,
				  provisional, or emergency certificate issued by the State Board of Examiners.
				  Teaching staff members include the positions of school nurse and school
				  athletic trainer. There are three different types of certificates that teaching
				  staff members work under:
1. An
				instructional certificate;
2. An
				administrative certificate; and
3.
				An educational services certificate.
"Unannounced observation" means an observation in which the
				  person conducting an observation for the purpose of evaluation will not notify
				  the teaching staff member of the date or time that the observation will be
				  conducted.
"Validity" means the extent to which evidence and theory
				  support an interpretation of scores from a measurement instrument for a
				  particular use of the instrument. In the context of evaluating educator
				  practice, this means the evidence gathered using the instrument supports
				  correct and useful inferences and decisions about the effectiveness of the
				  practice observed.