Sponsored by:
Assemblyman JOHN J. BURZICHELLI
District 3 (Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem)
SYNOPSIS
Requires that a teacher’s evaluation take into consideration the degree of parental involvement and the impact it has on student achievement.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning teacher effectiveness and supplementing P.L.2012, c.26 (C.18A:6-117 et al.).
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. Beginning in the 2014-2015 school year, the evaluation rubric used by a school district to assess the effectiveness of its teachers shall ensure that the methods for measuring student achievement incorporate a means to quantify the degree of parental involvement and the impact it has on student achievement.
b. The Commissioner of Education shall by July 1, 2014, develop and distribute to school districts guidance on methods to quantify the degree and impact of parental involvement on student achievement for purposes of the evaluation rubric for teachers. The commissioner may incorporate the use of the following factors in quantifying the degree and impact of parental involvement: the parent’s responsiveness to communications initiated by the teacher; the parent’s participation in parent-teacher conferences; the student’s completion rate for homework; and the parent’s responsiveness in returning documents requiring the parent’s signature.
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
A teacher under the “Teacher Effectiveness and Accountability for the Children of New Jersey (TEACHNJ) Act,” P.L. 2012, c.26 (C.18A:6-117 et al.), is evaluated based on multiple measures, including measures of student achievement. Parents certainly play an important role in raising student performance and closing educational achievement gaps, but currently the degree of parental support is not a factor in measuring student achievement for the purposes of a teacher’s evaluation. This bill would ensure that the methodology used to evaluate student achievement for purposes of a teacher’s evaluation would incorporate a means to quantify the impact parental involvement has on a student’s achievement. The Commissioner of Education is required to develop guidance on methods to quantify the degree and impact of parental involvement on student achievement for purposes of the evaluation rubric for teachers. The commissioner may incorporate the use of the following factors in quantifying the degree and impact of parental involvement: the parent’s responsiveness to communications initiated by the teacher; the parent’s participation in parent-teacher conferences; the student’s completion rate for homework; and the parent’s responsiveness in returning documents requiring the parent’s signature.