In accordance with the 2012 statute, N.J.A.C. 6A:10, all New Jersey teachers must be evaluated, consistent with a set of criteria that school districts adopt, with a specific evaluation tool consisting of standards and indicators. Teachers were to be identified through a classification system that labeled them as "Highly Effective, Effective,…

Teacher evaluation is an important tool in the development of strong teachers dedicated to improving the achievement of their students. For this reason, it is crucial that teachers view evaluation instruments and procedures as being effective measures that support and improve their practices. Teachers' perceptions of their evaluation instruments…

Teacher leadership is increasingly recognized as a promising strategy to improve the quality of instruction in U.S. schools. Despite the rising number of teacher leadership programs in the country, there is a paucity of knowledge about the work that teacher leaders (TLs) engage in, how educators experience teacher leadership and the impacts of…

Just a few years ago, tenure appeared low on the reform list for state policy makers and district administrators, viewed as too hot an issue politically to challenge. But it was front and center in the 2014 landmark "Vergara v. California" lawsuit, which challenged teacher tenure and related policies. Yet whether to grant tenure or not…

The present study is a wait-list controlled, randomized study investigating a teacher coaching approach that emphasizes formative assessment and visual performance feedback to enhance elementary school teachers' classroom practices. The coaching model targeted instructional and behavioral management practices as measured by the Classroom…

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the influence of the 2006 New Jersey Department of Education's initiative to improve mentoring supports for first-year new teachers throughout the state. As part of this initiative, every school district in the state was required to develop a comprehensive mentoring plan to support new teachers. Districts…

In the state of New Jersey and nationally, teacher evaluation is a current focus of education reform efforts (Hallinger et al., 2014; Schulman, 2014). A well-executed teacher evaluation system produces data regarding educator effectiveness. It is the intention of the 2012 AchieveNJ teacher evaluation reform law that teacher evaluation data be used…

The nation's teacher education programs are not producing the quantity or quality of teachers needed, particularly in needed subjects. The only way to ensure a strong enough pipeline of effective teachers to ensure equitable access is to dramatically increase how states are preparing prospective educators. The Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship…

The United States is in an era of high-stakes evaluation of educators (i.e., teachers and principals), the results of which are used to inform human capital decision making (i.e., recruitment, hiring, retention, and dismissal), which in turn impacts school capacity and student learning. The present article describes the School System Improvement…

One of the growing interests in teacher education lies in how and what teachers learn across time and space in the complex ecologies and technologies of today's society. Teacher research has been implemented in teacher education programs as a powerful, exploratory tool for teacher candidates to inquire about educational problems and to improve…

This study explores the role that participating in a critical inquiry project (CIP) played on the development of new educators who aspire to teach from a social justice perspective. The study also examines how relationships between the first- and second-year teacher participants shaped their development as social justice educators, learners, and…

This study examined the perceptions of Language Arts teachers, Mathematics teachers, and administrators in four high schools in a large urban New Jersey school district regarding a standards-based teacher evaluation system implemented in 2003 adapted and modeled on "Enhancing Professional Practice: A Framework for Teaching" (Danielson,…

Policy shapes practice, and the increasingly important realm of professional development is no exception. In order to identify effective professional development policies and strategies, a Stanford University research team examined the policy frameworks supporting high levels of professional development activity in four states. The…

In the Monroe Township (New Jersey) Public Schools, teachers' learning occurs daily, not just on one day in October and February. Central office and school-level administrators foster job-embedded teacher growth. Every day is a professional development day in the district, but that has not always been so. How did the district become a system with…

The 2009 "State Teacher Policy Yearbook" provided a comprehensive review of states' policies that impact the teaching profession. As a companion to last year's comprehensive state-by-state analysis, the 2010 edition provides each state with an individualized "Blueprint for Change," building off last year's "Yearbook"…