In the United States, our education system is often criticized for its effectiveness and strategies. Arguments can arise about the weaknesses needed to be addressed. Having said that, the New Jersey Department of Education just released some good news about our state’s current education system. According to the Asbury Park Press, the majority of New Jersey teachers are doing an effective job in the classroom.
The evaluations, started last year by the NJ Department of Education, judges each NJ teacher using one of four ratings: ineffective, partially effective, effective, and highly effective. And the results are extremely promising. Less than 3 percent of NJ teachers were rated either “partially effective or “ineffective.” In the previous year, 2.7 percent of teachers were rated either “partially ineffective” or “effective.” But a year later, it went down to only 1.6 percent.
Another notable point to bring up is that even most teachers from some of the lowest-performing schools in NJ, were rated either “effective” or “highly effective.”
Also, according to NJ.com, the number of teachers earning the rating “highly effective” rose by over 10 percent from last year. Last year, the percentage of teachers rated “highly effective” was 23.4 percent. And this year it went up to 33.8 percent.
NJ.com also noted that these evaluations are based on classroom observations and whether or not students improved on test scores.
Now, some people have criticized this process. The issue they have is that these standards might be too tough on the children. Some people have said that this puts too much pressure on the kids to do well. And I can definitely see where that criticism is coming from. But on the other hand, if the performances of these teachers are really as effective as the Department of Education says, the teachers are doing something right.
Links:
http://www.app.com/story/news/education/2016/12/13/most-nj-teachers-get-good-marks/95383068/
http://www.nj.com/education/2016/12/search_nj_teacher_evaluations_for_each_school.html
