NJ Schools Turn to Familiar Instrument to Measure Teacher Performance

By John Mooney

Charlotte Danielson talks about the challenges as her “Frameworks for Teaching” is adopted by more than 300 public school districts.

A pioneer in teacher evaluation, Charlotte Danielson knows her name is soon to be part of the vocabulary in hundreds of New Jersey public schools. She’s hoping that will be in a good way.

Danielson, the creator and driving force behind the eponymous Charlotte Danielson’s “Frameworks for Teaching,” will see her methods for observing and evaluating teachers adopted in almost two-thirds — or more than 330 — of the state’s school districts this fall, the first year that New Jersey’s high-stakes grading of teachers and principals will be in play.

It’s an overwhelming endorsement for Danielson’s methodologies, one that reflects her nationwide influence on teacher evaluation. It’s also a testament to the instruments’ familiarity to districts after more than a decade, as well as to how easy teachers and educators find it to use.

More>>