| ||||||||||||||||
NJ Spotlight - Agenda: State Board of Ed to Start Transition to New Commissioner...Meeting will include first steps toward David Hespe’s return to top post, action on renewed charter school code
Star Ledger – Bill seeks to include parental involvement in measuring teacher effectiveness ‘ “Assemblyman Patrick Diegnan (D-Middlesex), who is head of the education committee, said the bill “needs some fleshing out before it could proceed.” "The concept of involving the parents is a worthy goal, but how in the world would you accomplish it?” he asked. “Everybody is looking for a magic bullet when it comes to teacher evaluations, but it is complicated stuff.”’
NJ Spotlight - Agenda: State Board of Ed to Start Transition to New Commissioner
John Mooney | March 4, 2014
Meeting will include first steps toward David Hespe’s return to top post, action on renewed charter school code
Date: Wednesday, March 5, 2014
Time: 10 a.m.
Related Links
State Board of Education Agenda
School Calendar of Recognized Religious Holidays
Place: New Jersey Department of Education, 1st floor conference room, 100 River View Plaza, Trenton.
What they are doing: The board meets for the first time since Gov. Chris Christie’s appointment of David Hespe as the next commissioner of education, succeeding Chris Cerf. The board is not required to confirm the appointment, but it does have oversight over the agency’s senior staff and will need to shuffle some seats so Hespe can start serving as acting commissioner within the month. The board will also take up the state’s charter school regulations, which the administration is proposing to keep unchanged for the time being. In addition, public testimony is planned for the afternoon.
Hespe in, Cerf out: For Hespe to take office this month, as planned, the State Board must first approve him as an assistant commissioner; he then can then be named as acting commissioner. There is little indication the board will not oblige. Hespe is not expected to become acting commissioner until March 20, with the acting position expected to be occupied by other assistant commissioners in the meantime. Once Hespe takes office, his final confirmation will come from the state Senate.
Charter regulations: The state board will be asked to renew the current charter school regulations, a move to keep the status quo that is sure to draw some protest. The state’s oversight of charter schools is a hot topic, and critics of state policies have sought significant changes to both the state’s charter school law and its regulations.
Religious holiday calendar: It’s that time of the year again, when the State Board must approve the calendar of religious holidays on which students are allowed to miss school with an excused absence. The list is exhaustive, with holidays continually updated based upon requests from the public and clergy.
Public testimony, delayed: Nearly 100 people signed up to testify before the board last month, many seeking to express concerns about reforms in the state-operated Newark school district. The meeting was postponed for a week due to a snow storm and the testimony was put off until this coming Wednesday. The public hearing is open for comment on all topics.
Star Ledger – Bill seeks to include parental involvement in measuring teacher effectiveness ‘ “Assemblyman Patrick Diegnan (D-Middlesex), who is head of the education committee, said the bill “needs some fleshing out before it could proceed.” "The concept of involving the parents is a worthy goal, but how in the world would you accomplish it?” he asked. “Everybody is looking for a magic bullet when it comes to teacher evaluations, but it is complicated stuff.”’
By Peggy McGlone/The Star-Ledger The Star-Ledger
Email the author | Follow on Twitter
on March 03, 2014 at 11:50 AM, updated March 03, 2014 at 11:59 AM
TRENTON — As school officials prepare to use student achievement as one measurement of teacher effectiveness, a state lawmaker is asking that parental involvement be part of the equation.
Assemblyman John Burzichelli (D-Gloucester) has introduced a bill that would require school officials to incorporate parental involvement in the rubric used for teacher evaluations under the TEACHNJ Act, the 2012 law commonly known as the tenure reform law.
“If there’s not a partnership in the education of the child, there’s a disadvantage to the teacher,” Burzichelli said. “If the lesson of the day is not continued at home, that break in continuity is very costly.”
Burzichelli’s bill asks the Commissioner of Education to develop methods to quantify the degree and influence of parents on student achievement. A parent’s participation in parent-teacher conferences, a student’s homework record, or a parent’s responsiveness to teacher communications would be items used to create a measure, Burzichelli said.
“We’re in the very early stages of how teachers are evaluated, and I’m hoping we start a dialogue,” he said. “There’s a clear case that where homes are struggling, schools are struggling. If we don’t talk about what happens outside of school, we’re never going to get where we want to get.”
Officials from the New Jersey Education Association say the bill highlights an important issue in student achievement and the union has talked to Burzichelli about it.
"There are a number of factors known to go into student achievement and if we are going to evaluate teachers you have to take these factors into account,” NJEA spokesman Steven Baker said. “The evaluation system relies too heavily on narrow measures of student learning.”
It is the policy of the Department of Education not to comment on proposed legislation, a spokesman said.
Assemblyman Patrick Diegnan (D-Middlesex), who is head of the education committee, said the bill “needs some fleshing out before it could proceed.”
"The concept of involving the parents is a worthy goal, but how in the world would you accomplish it?” he asked. “Everybody is looking for a magic bullet when it comes to teacher evaluations, but it is complicated stuff.”
