The New Jersey State Board of Education advanced its proposed readoption with amendments to N.J.A.C. 6A:10, the state's educator evaluation rules, to a Second Discussion level on October 7, 2026, with no public comments submitted since the First Discussion on September 9, according to the comment and response form accompanying the proposed rule text. The changes would replace Student Growth Objectives with measures of student learning, eliminate the February 15 adjustment deadline, add a comprehensive strategy session for novice and corrective-action-plan teachers, and temporarily reinstate the District Evaluation Advisory Committee for a two-year reset period.
The chapter is scheduled to sunset on July 6, 2027, making this readoption the vehicle for continuing and modernizing the framework, as stated in the Commissioner's recommendation for the Second Discussion. The rules were originally adopted in March 2013, amended in October 2013, November 2014, and February 2017, and last readopted with amendments effective July 2020.
Reinstating a sunsetted advisory body
The proposed amendments would reverse, for a limited time, a prior decision to let the District Evaluation Advisory Committee become optional. The DEAC was mandatory from the adoption of AchieveNJ in 2013 until it became optional beginning in the 2017-18 school year under existing N.J.A.C. 6A:10-2.3(c), according to the current chapter. The new proposal would make the DEAC mandatory again for a two-year reset period, then return it to optional status.
This within-state precedent of reinstating a previously sunsetted governance body would allow districts to manage the transition during the reset period, as described in the September 9 presentation.
Statutory and task force grounding
The proposed amendments build on two earlier actions. P.L. 2025, c. 79, approved June 30, 2025, extended the statutory pause on collecting new SGO data and administrator goals data through the next readoption of N.J.A.C. 6A:10. It also required that in the first full school year after the next readoption, districts implement SGO and administrator goals data collection consistent with any law or rule resulting from the Task Force's findings, as stated in the statute.
The 2024 Educator Evaluation Review Task Force, established under P.L. 2024, c. 14 and chaired by Dr. David Aderhold of the Garden State Coalition of Schools, submitted its final report on September 30, 2024. The report recommended regulatory changes to AchieveNJ, including reexamining the SGO model, reducing administrative burdens, aligning evaluation with professional development, and establishing an NJDOE educator-led working group. The task force included representatives from NJEA, NJPSA, AFT-NJ, NJASA, NJSBA, and the Legislature.
Consensus findings and implementation
The Task Force report's executive summary noted universal discontent with elements of the evaluation process, particularly Student Growth Objectives, and an administrative burden that redirects time and energy away from supporting students and coaching teachers, according to the report. These findings directly inform the proposed amendments. The report is a consensus recommendation from a statutory task force, not a controlled research study.
In July 2025, the NJDOE published Educator Evaluation Guidance developed by the Educator Evaluation Working Group, which convened from January through May 2025. The guidance translated the Task Force's recommendations into three high-leverage focus areas: producing guidance on flexibility and lesser-known evaluation flexibilities, aligning evaluation with professional development, and supporting novice educators. The working group determined these priorities based on the Task Force's key recommendations, according to the guidance document.
Comparisons to other states
The Task Force report included a section titled "Comparisons to Other States: Legislative Changes around the Nation" (page 35 of the report), which reviewed how other states have approached educator evaluation reform. This review was part of the Task Force's charge to review current educational research on best practices in educator evaluation to promote student achievement and success, as stated in P.L. 2024, c. 14.
The proposed amendments now move to publication in the New Jersey Register and formal adoption, with the chapter's sunset date of July 6, 2027 setting a deadline for completion. As of the October 7 meeting, no public comments had been received, according to the comment/response form.