By John Mooney
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Q: Talk about your goals for the year in general.
A: Making sure the teachers’ contract is implemented well and actually helps support teachers, retain great teachers and exit low performers remains a main goal. The second thing is continuing to cultivate transformational leadership at the principal level. And the third is to continue to overhaul and support schools to better connect with students and families, so that we are really breaking down the barriers in school enrollment.
Q: These are all continuations of past goals? Is there anything new to this year?
A: I think bold change requires setting a vision and priorities and staying the course. We have big things planned on all three, but success will require us staying focused on the levers that we believe are the building blocks of success. And those fundamentally have not changed.
Q: Newark is further along than most in teacher evaluation, and you announced that you have issued the first performance bonuses under the new contract to more than 100 teachers. What are the lessons of the first year?
A: We are really in great shape, because most of what the new state statute requires, we have one or even two years under our belt. The thing I want to focus on this year is on an incentive for a new master’s program for teachers who want to teach to the Common Core, and it will be interesting how people in higher ed respond. And the other priority is working with the Newark Teachers Union in working on addressing other positions that are not classroom teachers – the guidance counselors, technology coordinators — who we know play a really critical role.
Q: Does your teacher evaluation system include student performance measures, including state tests?
A: It depends on the grade, but student mastery is one of the competencies for teachers. That means the administrator will look at multiple measures of student outcome, including standardized test scores but also very importantly other interim assessments, reading and writing assessments. High-stakes standardized tests is a very narrow part of looking at whether students have mastered the material.
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