In schools, teachers have the greatest influence on student learning. All students deserve great teachers, and all teachers deserve meaningful opportunities for growth. In 2012, the New Jersey Legislature unanimously passed the TEACHNJ Act, which mandated implementation of a new teacher evaluation system starting in the 2013 – 2014 school year and links tenure decisions to evaluation ratings. AchieveNJ is designed to recognize those who excel, identify those who need additional support, and provide meaningful feedback and professional development to all teachers.

In response to this new evaluation mandate, South Harrison Township Elementary School District has adopted the Marzano Teaching Framework, one of the state approved teacher evaluation frameworks.  The new evaluation system uses four rating categories – Highly Effective, Effective, Partially Effective, and Ineffective to not only evaluate teachers on classroom practice but also student performance.  Moreover, the mandates established by AchieveNJ apply to principals and assistant principals. Educators who fail to achieve Highly Effective or Effective ratings for multiple years are in jeopardy of losing tenure.

The South Harrison Township Elementary School District focuses its vision on promoting student achievement by helping teachers excel in the classroom.  Our goal as a district is to promote effective teaching in every classroom by identifying and rewarding effective teaching across our district. We intend to elevate the teaching profession by supporting teachers’ professional development and helping teachers excel as professionals. We believe that by helping teachers excel, students will achieve success, and when students achieve more, our entire community benefits.

For more information on this new evaluation system, please visit the NJDOE’s website at  http://www.state.nj.us/education/AchieveNJ/

Click below to access the teacher evaluation manual established for South Harrison Township Elementary School District.