R 3222  EVALUATION OF TEACHING STAFF MEMBERS, EXCLUDING
  	   TEACHERS AND ADMINISTRATORS
 
A.    	Definitions – N.J.A.C. 6A:10-1.2

The following words and terms shall have the following meanings when used in Policy and Regulation 3222 unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
 
“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, if applicable, and includes all measures captured in a teaching staff member’s evaluation rubric.  The four summative performance categories are ineffective, partially effective, effective, and highly effective.
 
“Chief School Administrator” means the Superintendent of Schools or the Administrative Principal if there is no Superintendent.
 
“Commissioner” means Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Education.
 
“Corrective Action Plan” means a written plan developed by the designated supervisor in collaboration with the teaching staff member to address deficiencies as outlined in an evaluation.  The corrective action plan shall include timelines for corrective action, responsibilities of the individual teaching staff member and the school district for implementing the plan, and specific support that the district shall provide as defined in N.J.S.A. 18A:6-119. 
 
“Department” means the New Jersey Department of Education.
 
“Designated supervisor” means the supervisor designated by the Superintendent of Schools or 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 Board of Education's evaluation policies and procedures as set forth in N.J.A.C. 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 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 Board of Education will have an evaluation rubric specifically for teachers, another specifically for Principals, Vice Principals, and Assistant 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” is as defined in N.J.S.A. 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.
 
“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.
 
“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 teaching staff members and designated supervisors set for groups of students.
 
“Superintendent” means Superintendent of Schools or Chief School Administrator.
 
“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 defined in N.J.A.C.  6A:9B-12.
 
“Teaching staff member” for the purposes of Policy 3222 and this Regulation, includes, but is not limited to, educational services staff members, guidance counselors, school nurses, library/media specialists, occupational therapists, and other teaching staff members working under an educational services certificate and does not include teachers, Principals, Vice Principals, Assistant Principals, and administrators, including, but not limited to, Directors and/or Supervisors. 
 
B.    	Applicability of Rules on Collective Bargaining Agreements – N.J.A.C. 6A:10-1.3
 
No collective bargaining agreement entered into after July 1, 2013, shall conflict with the educator evaluation system established pursuant to N.J.A.C. 6A:10-1.1 et seq. or any other specific statute or regulation, nor shall topics subject to bargaining involve matters of educational policy or managerial prerogatives.
 C.    	Educator Evaluation Data, Information, and Annual Performance Reports 		– N.J.A.C. 6A:10-1.4 
All information contained in annual performance reports and all information collected, compiled, and/or maintained by employees of the Board of Education for the purposes of conducting the educator evaluation process pursuant to N.J.A.C. 6A:10-1.1 et seq., including, but not limited to, digital records, shall be confidential.  Such information shall not be subject to public inspection or copying pursuant to the Open Public Records Act, N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et seq.  Nothing contained in N.J.A.C.
6A:10-1.1 et seq. shall be construed to prohibit the Department or a school district from, at its discretion, collecting evaluation data pursuant to N.J.S.A. 18A:6-123.e. or distributing aggregate statistics regarding evaluation data.
 D.    	Evaluation of Teaching Staff Members – N.J.A.C. 6A:10-2.1
1.     	The Board of Education shall annually adopt evaluation rubrics for all teaching staff members.  The evaluation rubrics shall have four defined annual ratings:  ineffective, partially effective, effective, and highly effective.
 
2.     	Evaluation rubrics shall be submitted to the Commissioner by August 1 for approval by August 15 of each year.
 E.     	Duties of the Board of Education – N.J.A.C. 6A:10-2.2
1.     	The Board of Education shall meet the following requirements for the annual evaluation of teaching staff members, unless otherwise specified:
 
a.     	Establish a District Evaluation Advisory Committee to oversee and guide the planning and implementation of the Board of Education's evaluation policies and procedures as set forth in N.J.A.C. 6A:10-2 et seq.;
 
b.     	Annually adopt policies and procedures developed by the Superintendent pursuant to N.J.A.C. 6A:10-2.4, including the evaluation rubrics approved by the Commissioner pursuant to N.J.A.C. 6A:10-2.1(c):
 
(1)    	The Superintendent shall develop policies and procedures that, at a minimum, ensure student performance data on the Statewide assessment is, upon receipt, promptly distributed or otherwise made available to staff members who were primarily responsible for instructing the applicable
students in the school year in which the assessment was taken, as well as to staff members who are or will be primarily responsible for instructing the applicable students in the subsequent school year.
 
c.     	Ensure the Superintendent annually notifies all teaching staff members of the adopted evaluation policies and procedures no later than October 1.  If a teaching staff member is hired after October 1, the Board/Superintendent shall notify the teaching staff member of the policies and procedures at the beginning of his or her employment.  All teaching staff members shall be notified of amendments to the policy and procedures within ten teaching staff member working days of adoption;
 d.     	Annually adopt by June 1, any Commissioner-approved 		educator practice instruments and, as part of the process 		described at N.J.A.C. 6A:10-2.1(c), notify the Department 		which instruments will be used as part of the school 			district’s evaluation rubrics;
 e.     	Ensure the Principal of each school within the school district has established a School Improvement Panel pursuant to N.J.A.C. 6A:10-3.1.  The panel shall be established annually by August 31 and shall carry out the duties and functions described in N.J.A.C. 6A:10-3.2;
 
f.      	Ensure data elements are collected and stored in an accessible and usable format.  Data elements shall include, but not be limited to, scores or evidence from observations for the purpose of evaluation and student growth objective data; and
 
g.     	Ensure the Superintendent or designee certifies to the Department that any observer who conducts an observation of a teaching staff member for the purpose of evaluation as described in N.J.A.C. 6A:10-4.4; N.J.A.C. 6A:10-5.4, and
N.J.A.C. 6A:10-6.2, shall meet the statutory observation requirements of N.J.S.A. 18A:6-119; 18A:6-123.b.(8); and N.J.S.A. 18A:27-3.1 and the teacher member of the School Improvement Panel requirements of N.J.A.C. 6A:10-3.2.
 
2.     	The Board of Education shall ensure the following training procedures are followed when implementing the evaluation rubric for all teaching staff members and, when applicable, applying the Commissioner-approved educator practice instruments:
 
a.     	Annually provide training on and descriptions of each component of the evaluation rubric for all teaching staff members who are being evaluated in the school district and provide more thorough training for any teaching staff member who is being evaluated for the first time.  Training shall include detailed descriptions of all evaluation rubric components including, when applicable, detailed descriptions of student achievement measures and all aspects of the educator practice instruments;
 
b.     	Annually provide updates and refresher training for supervisors who are conducting evaluations in the school district and more thorough training for any supervisor who will evaluate teaching staff members for the first time.  Training shall be provided on each component of the evaluated teaching staff member’s evaluation rubric before the evaluation of a teaching staff member; and
 
c.     	The Superintendent shall annually certify to the Department that all supervisors of teaching staff members in the school district who are utilizing evaluation rubrics have completed training on and demonstrated competency in applying the evaluation rubrics.
 
F.     	District Evaluation Advisory Committee – N.J.A.C. 6A:10-2.3
1.     	Members of the District Evaluation Advisory Committee shall include representation from the following groups:  teachers from each school level represented in the school district; central office administrators overseeing the teacher evaluation process; supervisors involved in teacher evaluation, when available or appropriate; and administrators conducting evaluations, including a minimum of one administrator conducting evaluations who participates on a School Improvement Panel.  Members also shall include the Superintendent, a special education administrator, a parent, and a member of the Board of Education.
 
2.     	The Superintendent may extend membership on the District Evaluation Advisory Committee to representatives of other groups and to individuals.
 
3.     	A District Evaluation Advisory Committees is not required and the Board of Education shall have the discretion to establish a District Evaluation Advisory Committee.
 G.    	Evaluation Procedures for Teaching Staff Members – N.J.A.C. 6A:10-2.4
 1.     	The provisions outlined in Policy and Regulation 3222 and 			N.J.A.C. 6A:10-2.4 shall be the minimum requirements for the 		evaluation of teaching staff members.
2.     	Evaluation policies and procedures requiring the annual evaluation of all teaching staff members shall be developed under the direction of the Superintendent, who may consult with the District Evaluation Advisory Committee or representatives from School Improvement Panels, and shall include, but not be limited to, a description of:
 a.     	Roles and responsibilities for implementation of evaluation 		policies and procedures;
 b.     	Job descriptions, evaluation rubrics for all teaching staff members, the process for calculating the summative ratings and each component, and the evaluation regulations set forth in N.J.A.C. 6A:10 et seq.;
 
c.     	Methods of data collection and reporting appropriate to each job description, including, but not limited to, the process for student attribution to teachers, Principals, Assistant Principals, and Vice Principals for calculating the median and school-wide student growth percentile;
 
d.     	Processes for observations for the purpose of evaluation and post-observation conference(s) by a supervisor;
 
e.     	Process for developing and scoring student growth objectives;
 
f.      	The process for preparation of individual professional development plans; and
 
g.     	The process for preparation of an annual performance report by the teaching staff member’s designated supervisor, and an annual summary conference between the teaching staff member and his or her designated supervisor.
 3.     	The annual summary conference between the designated 			supervisor and the teaching staff member shall be held before the 		annual performance report is filed.  The conference shall occur on 		or before June 30 of each school year and shall include, but not be 		limited to, a review of the following: 
a.          	The performance of the teaching staff member based upon the job description and the scores or evidence compiled using the teaching staff member’s evaluation rubric, including, when applicable:
 
(1)    	The educator’s practice instrument; and
 
(2)    	Available indicators or student achievement measures such as student growth objective scores and student growth percentile scores.
 
b.     	The progress of the teaching staff member toward meeting 		the goals of the individual professional development plan 		or, when applicable, the corrective action plan; and
 
c.     	The preliminary annual performance report.
 4.     	If any scores for the teaching staff member’s evaluation rubric are 		not available at the time of the annual summary conference due to 		pending assessment results, the annual summative evaluation 		rating shall be calculated once all component ratings are available.
5.     	The annual performance report shall be prepared by the teaching staff member’s designated supervisor and shall include, but not be limited to:
 
a.     	A summative rating based on the evaluation rubric;
 
b.     	Performance area(s) of strength and area(s) needing improvement based upon the job description and components of the teaching staff member’s evaluation rubric; and
 
c.     	The teaching staff member’s individual professional development plan or corrective action plan from the evaluation year being reviewed in the report.
 
6.     	The teaching staff member and the designated supervisor shall sign the report within five teaching staff member working days of the review.
 
7.     	The Board of Education shall include all performance reports and supporting data, including, but not limited to, written observation reports and additional components of the summative evaluation rating as part of the teaching staff member’s personnel file or in an
alternative, confidential location.  If reports and data are stored in an alternative location, the personnel file shall clearly indicate the report’s location and how it can be easily accessed.  The records shall be confidential and shall not be subject to public inspection or copying pursuant to the Open Public Records Act, N.J.S.A.  47:1A-1 et seq.
 
H.    	Corrective Action Plans for Teaching Staff Members – N.J.A.C.  6A:10-2.5
 
1.     	For each teaching staff member rated ineffective or partially effective on the annual summative evaluation, as measured by the evaluation rubrics, a corrective action plan shall be developed by the teaching staff member and the teaching staff member’s designated supervisor.  If the teaching staff member does not agree with the corrective action plan’s content, the designated supervisor shall make a final determination. 
 
2.     	The corrective action plan shall be developed and the teaching staff member and his or her designated supervisor shall meet to discuss the corrective action plan by October 31 of the school year following the year of evaluation, except:
 
a.     	If the ineffective or partially effective summative evaluation rating is received after October 1 of the school year following the year of evaluation, a corrective action plan shall be developed, and the teaching staff member and his or her designated supervisor shall meet to discuss the corrective action plan within twenty-five teaching staff member working days following the school district’s receipt of the teaching staff member’s summative rating.
 
3.     	The content of the corrective action plan shall replace the content of the individual professional development plan required pursuant to N.J.A.C. 6A:9C-4.3(a) and 4.4(a) and shall:
 a.     	Address areas in need of improvement identified in the 		teaching staff member evaluation rubric; 
b.     	Include specific, demonstrable goals for improvement;
 
c.     	Include responsibilities of the evaluated employee and the school district for the plan’s implementation; and
 
d.     	Include timelines for meeting the goal(s).
 4.     	The teaching staff member’s designated supervisor and the 			teaching staff member on a corrective action plan shall discuss the 		teaching staff member’s progress toward the goals outlined in the 		corrective action plan during each required post-observation 		conference.  The teaching staff member and his or her designated 		supervisor may update the goals outlined in the corrective action 		plan to reflect any change(s) in the teaching staff member’s 		progress, position, or role.  
 5.     	Progress toward the teaching staff member’s goals outlined in the 		corrective action plan:
a.       	Shall be documented in the teaching staff member’s personnel file and reviewed at the annual summary conference and the mid-year evaluation.  Both the teaching staff member on a corrective action plan and his or her designated supervisor may collect data and evidence to demonstrate the teaching staff member’s progress toward his or her corrective action plan goals; and
 b.     	May be used as evidence in the teaching staff member’s 		next annual summative evaluation; however, such progress 		shall not guarantee an effective rating on the next 			summative evaluation. 
6.     	Responsibilities of the evaluated teaching staff member on a corrective action plan shall not be exclusionary of other plans for improvement determined to be necessary by the teaching staff member’s designated supervisor.
 
7.     	The corrective action plan shall remain in effect until the teaching staff member receives his or her next summative evaluation rating.

8.     	There shall be no minimum number of teaching staff member working days a teacher’s corrective action plan can be in place.
I.      	Required Observations for Teaching Staff Members – N.J.A.C. 6A:10-6.2
1.     	The Superintendent shall determine the duration of 				observations required pursuant to N.J.S.A. 18A:27-3.1 for 			nontenured teaching staff members, except teachers, 			Principals, Vice Principals, and Assistant Principals.  			Observations include, but are not limited to, 				observations of meetings, student instruction, parent 			conferences, and case-study analysis of a significant 			student issue.  The observation shall:
 
a.     	Be at least twenty minutes in length;
 
b.     	Be followed within fifteen teaching staff member 			working days by a conference between the 				supervisor who made the observation and the 			nontenured teaching staff member;
 
c.     	Be followed by both parties to such a conference 		signing the written or electronic observation report 		and each retaining a copy of his or her records; and
 
d.     	Allow the nontenured teaching staff member to 		submit his or her written objection(s) of the 			evaluation within ten teaching staff member 			working days following the conference.  The 		objection(s) shall be attached to each party’s copy 		of the annual performance report.
 
2.     	All tenured teaching staff members shall receive at least one observation per school year.
 
3.     	All nontenured teaching staff members shall receive at least three observations, as required pursuant to N.J.S.A. 18A:27-3.1.
  
a.     	The required observations and evaluations for nontenured teaching staff members shall take place before April 30 each year.  These observations and evaluations may cover that period between April 30 of one year and April 30 of the succeeding year except in the case of the first year of employment where the three observations and evaluations must have been completed prior to April 30. 
 
b.     	The number of required observations and evaluations for nontenured teaching staff members may be reduced proportionately when an individual teaching staff member's term of service is less than one academic year.
 
4.     	Evaluations for tenured teaching staff shall be completed prior to June 30.

Date Issued		February 23, 2009
Date Adopted:	December 12, 2011, May 13, 2014 (rewrite)
Date Revised:	July 18, 2011, April 26, 2016, October 17, 2017, July 27, 		2021