How Camden Built a Flexible Observation and Evaluation System with SchoolStatus Boost

As reporting requirements for K-12 public school districts become more stringent, district leaders have begun to look for ways to support and empower their educators while remaining compliant with regulations. Camden City School District leveraged SchoolStatus Boost to implement a professional development system that is customized to the district’s unique needs and goals and meets New Jersey state requirements.

Highly Supported Teachers Strive For Better Student Outcomes In Camden City 

Camden City School District in New Jersey employs over 700 educators and serves over 6,000 PreK-12 students. Camden focuses on improving traditional district schools and unifying educational options across the city so that every child experiences a high-quality education.

“The way we’ve set up the [SchoolStatus Boost] platform and use it across all 19 schools has led to new interaction amongst educators at all levels,” shared Nick Pillsbury, Ed.D., Camden’s Senior Director of Evaluation and Talent Data.

“The way we’ve set up the [SchoolStatus Boost] platform and use it across all 19 schools has led to new interaction amongst educators at all levels.”

—Nick Pillsbury, Ed.D., Senior Director, Evaluation and Talent Data, Camden City School District

The Goal

Implement a Customizable System That Supports Teacher Evaluation While Meeting State-Wide Requirements

Camden needed a reliable and flexible way to comply with the Teach NJ Act, which requires specific evaluation structures that link tenure decisions to evaluation outcomes. Nick Pillsbury, Ed.D. joined the staff as Senior Manager, Evaluation and Talent Data in 2014 and later became Senior Director. Pillsbury’s goal was to ensure that Camden had the tools and systems in place to align with the new ways in which educators and principals were being evaluated.

After a thorough search by a focus group of educators and school leaders, Camden selected SchoolStatus Boost. A Camden educator shared, “It is very easy to use and we are able to plan for informal and formal observations. We can view documents and meeting notes while responding and communicating all in one place.” 

The Challenge

Adapting to Changes in Teaching and Learning

The 2020-21 school year brought about unprecedented challenges, requiring Camden’s school leaders to rethink how their evaluation process and rubric functioned for a hybrid and remote school year.

Pillsbury worked closely with the SchoolStatus team to customize SchoolStatus Boost to meet their new needs and requirements while maintaining state compliance. They customized the platform to include a more linear portfolio component that aligned with their remote working model.

For each two-week portfolio cycle, educators collected their “portfolios of evidence” in SchoolStatus Boost. This allowed the schools to stay on track with evaluations and optimize communications between administrators and educators. Pillsbury shared, “We can easily identify instructional strengths and weaknesses, allowing administrators to provide feedback that teachers can quickly view and put into action.” Educators can upload videos, images, and documents to the platform, enabling two-way communication and educator-driven goal-setting.

“We can easily identify instructional strengths and weaknesses, allowing administrators to provide feedback that teachers can quickly view and put into action.”

—Nick Pillsbury, Ed.D., Senior Director, Evaluation and Talent Data, Camden City School District

The Outcomes

An Efficient, Adaptive Tool to Identify Instructional Strengths and Weaknesses

Camden City School District built a system of workflows that enables educators and support staff at all levels—central administrators, school leaders, instructional coaches, and classroom educators—to access and use the tools, data capabilities, and reports.

The district has been able to fully customize the observation, evaluation, and professional development process. SchoolStatus Boost even accommodates virtual walkthroughs in alignment with the Danielson framework. 

Camden now has one centralized location for meetings, evidence, classroom visits, action steps, and notes—organized by timeline for each educator. With SchoolStatus Boost, district leadership can track completion rates of observation cycles and get real-time reporting that shows progress toward goals. 

“The pandemic forced us to adapt the way we were doing evaluations,” shared Pillsbury. “We didn’t just change some forms, we changed the rubric, and [SchoolStatus Boost] helped us every step of the way.”

“The pandemic forced us to adapt the way we were doing evaluations. We didn’t just change some forms, we changed the rubric, and [SchoolStatus Boost] helped us every step of the way.”

—Nick Pillsbury, Ed.D., Senior Director, Evaluation and Talent Data, Camden City School District

Conclusion

Camden leadership uses SchoolStatus Boost to keep pace with educational standards in unprecedented times while staying focused on providing high-quality education. To date, Camden has conducted over 67,000 observations. The SchoolStatus Boost platform supports Camden’s requirements for teaching and learning, creating proactive and systematic conversations for achieving the district’s vision of instructional excellence.

To learn more about how SchoolStatus Boost can streamline and enhance your observation process, contact our team.