New Jersey has already slashed the weight of standardized test results in teacher evaluations. Student performance in day-to-day classwork could be next.

The state Board of Education last week gave Gov. Phil Murphy’s administration preliminary support to reduce the weight of Student Growth Objectives (SGO) — locally determined goals for student improvement — from 25% to 15% for some teachers. The reduction would apply to about 16% of the state’s teachers, those who are also graded on their student’s standardized test performance.

Teachers’ final ratings would likely see little impact, said Linda Eno, an assistant state education commissioner. About 99% of New Jersey teachers were rated effective or highly effective last school year, and changing the weight is “a minor tweak to a strong system," she said.

“SGOs were not at all likely to be the factor that pushed a teacher toward an ineffective rating,” Eno said.

But tying student performance to teacher evaluations has long been a divisive and politically charged issue. The proposed change is already coming under fire from state Sen. Teresa Ruiz, D-Essex, an architect of the state’s landmark tenure reform law passed in 2012.

“The DOE has been transparently clear in their goal to dismantle teacher evaluations with the actions that they have taken,” said Ruiz, who championed the use of student data in teacher ratings. “If their goal was to do away with evaluations, then I would prefer that people would just be up front.”

Changing the weight of Student Growth Objectives was not part of the Department of Education’s original revisions to the teachers evaluation process proposed last year. It was added after a representative from the New Jersey Education Association, the state’s largest teachers union, suggested reducing the weight of student outcomes during a public comment session in January, according to state documents.

The state agreed to make a change to create consistency, Eno said. Student Growth Objectives are already 15% of the evaluation for all other teachers, and the system will still allow schools to identify struggling teachers, she said.

The NJEA supports the move because tying student improvement to teacher evaluations doesn’t necessarily help students learn, spokesman Steve Baker said.

Ruiz didn’t know about the proposed change until after the state board meeting Wednesday and plans to write a letter to the Education Department, she said.

“Every time we do something to dismantle any kind of checks and balances in our school system, the ones who have the most to lose are communities that are in underperforming districts,” she said.

New Jersey’s decision to rate teachers based on student performance came amid a national trend in the early 2010s. The Obama administration tied federal grant money to states adopting certain education policies, including making student outcomes a factor in teacher evaluations.

Prior to 2013-14, New Jersey teachers were either rated satisfactory or unsatisfactory based on as little as one observation by an administrator. But former Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican, worked with Ruiz and other Democrats to revamp the evaluation system, and student outcomes counted for as much as 45% of some teachers’ evaluations after the law took effect.

Murphy, a Democrat endorsed by the NJEA, promised to reduce that and slashed the weight of standardized test results from 30% to 5% after he took office in 2018.

Currently, teachers in grades 4-7 in math and 4-8 in language arts have their ratings based 70% on observation, 25% on Student Growth Objectives and 5% on standardized test results. For all other teachers, 85% of their evaluations are based on observation and 15% on Student Growth Objectives.

New Jersey teachers are rated as highly effective, effective, partially effective or ineffective. Teachers who consistently earn poor ratings can lose tenure no matter how long they have been employed by a district.

The proposed change in the evaluation system would require a final vote from the state Board of Education in the coming months.

Adam Clark may be reached at adam_clark@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on twitter at @realAdamClark. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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