By Adam Clark, NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
TRENTON — High ranking New Jersey Democrats are calling on the state to minimize the impact of PARCC exams on teacher evaluations again next school year.
Senate President Steve Sweeney (D-Gloucester) and Teresa Ruiz (D-Essex), chair of the Senate Education Committee, wrote a letter to Education Commissioner David Hespe this week asking him to keep the weight of PARCC data at 10 percent of teachers’ evaluations next year.
The state previously said the weight could be increased from 10 to 20 percent for the teachers who have a student growth score generated from the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers exams factored into their evaluations.
“We, as legislators, always want to take a measured approach to policy,” the senators wrote. “Teachers are the most important individuals when it comes to a child’s educational experience and we must ensure that we are taking a responsible approach.”
Hespe told Ruiz during the Senate Budget Committee hearing on education Tuesday that the Department is in the process of talking to stakeholders and making a decision about next year’s teacher evaluation matrix.
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