What is the difference between a IPDP and a CAP?
Under NJ code, teachers must complete 20 hours of Professional Development each year. Your IPDP (Individual Professional Development Plan) describes how you will reach those 20 hours, and what goals you are working towards meeting through your professional development.
Under TeachNJ, any teacher that has received an ineffective or partially effective on their end of the year evaluation would be required to create a CAP (Corrective Action Plan). In additional to the requirements of a traditional IPDP, a CAP should lay out what improvements the teacher needs to make as well as the supports the administrator should provide in making those improvements. A teacher on a CAP is required to receive an additional Observation each year, a mid-year evaluation, and MUST be observed by two different administrators over the course of a school year.
Who develops an IPDP/CAP?
Under NJ law, a IPDP/CAP is developed by the teacher and administrator in conjunction. An administrator should never be forcing goals on you that you know are unreasonable or impossible. If you feel a goal is unreasonable, be prepared to provide evidence to demonstrate why.
For example, student baseline data. If your students come to you at a 2nd grade reading level, creating a goal that “all students will read at a 12th grade level at the end of the school year” is setting yourself up for failure.
if you are being compelled to put what you as the classroom professional can demonstrate as unreasonable then explain to your admin that you want their goals in an email for you to review.
Can I be held accountable for the goals I list in my IPDP/CAP?
YES! Your evaluation can and WILL be impacted by you not reaching the goals you have laid out in your IPDP and CAP? That is why it is important to ensure that your goals are reasonable and attainable.
For additional information:
https://www.nj.gov/education/profdev/ipdp/TeacherPDPandCAPOverview.pdf
https://www.state.nj.us/education/AchieveNJ/implementation/legalrequirements.pdf
https://www.nj.gov/education/profdev/ipdp/TeacherPDPDocs.pdf (includes some sample IPDP goals)