Principal Evaluation System

Willingboro Public Schools

Principal Evaluation System, SY 2009-2010

Introduction

As part of the federal requirements for states’ receiving funding under Phase 2 of the State Fiscal Stabilization Funds Program, all school districts in New Jersey are providing information to the public on the procedures they use to evaluate teachers and principals.  The information presented below will help you understand Willingboro’s policies and procedures for evaluating principals and assistant principals.

Confidentiality concerns: To protect the confidentiality of individual evaluations, districts are not required to provide a district-level statistical summary of principal evaluation outcomes in those cases where there are fewer than 10 principals in a district.

Section 1. Description of Principal Evaluation System

The Principal Evaluation System is based on the 2008 ISSLC (Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium) Standards.  The purpose of evaluation of administrators is consistent with that of teaching staff; for improvement of student learning and growth, for staff development for improvement of instruction, and for use in personnel decisions concerning reemployment, assignment and salary.   The Board of Education believes an effective evaluation program will include the role of the principal in instructional activities, non-instructional duties, and other responsibilities that contribute to an atmosphere conducive to educational growth and development.

The evaluation process for principals is on-going over the course of twelve months and aligns with the New Jersey Professional Standards for School Leaders.  Information considered covers a variety of administrative functions and is derived from a variety of sources.  This includes, but is not limited to community relations, budgeting and finance, staff scheduling and utilization, staff development presentation and participation, the performance of formal and informal observations, program development, maintenance and evaluation, progress toward objectives, general administrative/supervisory functioning, school performance and problem solving.  Principals are part of the planning process for their own professional growth including the development of their Professional Growth Plan (PGP) and school-wide initiatives and objectives.

In accordance with NJAC 6A:32-4, tenured and non-tenured principals are formally evaluated by appropriately certificated district administrators.  Non-tenured principals are scheduled for a minimum of three formal observations and tenured principals are scheduled for a minimum of one formal observation annually.   This information is used in conjunction with other sources to prepare the annual performance summary report.  Non-tenured principals are provided with additional supports, including professional development, tuition reimbursement and mentor programs specifically designed to orient novice or new principals to the district’s goals and objectives.