New Jersey Department of Education
Update for
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
Call for Action In Education
July 2003
Following is a status update on the activities achieved by the New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) as they relate directly to the Overview of Issues and Recommendations for Elementary and Secondary Education (Pre K – 12) identified in the Call for Action in Education report, prepared by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
Please note: the Call for Action in Education report can be found at: http://www.naacp.org/work/education/educalltoactn2.pdf
Section I: Increasing Resource Equity
New Jersey has accomplished the following tasks:
When most states are reducing funding to education programs, Governor McGreevey included a modest increase in state aid funding to 454 school districts when the FY 04 budget was signed into law. New Jersey’s school districts will receive a total of $8 billion.
State aid to school districts has been held constant for the 119 wealthiest districts and the Abbott school districts will receive an additional $50 million.
The state is unique in that, through the Abbott decision, equalized spending among the poorer urban and rural school districts and the wealthier suburban school districts continues to be a priority.
In addition to New Jersey’s allocation of $474 million made available through the No Child Left Behind Act, the state has also aggressively drawn down all available funds for the state from the US Department of Education. An additional $20.8M in competitive funds will be available to New Jersey over the next three to four years.
In addition, $6.8 billion for school construction has been committed to improve the quality of the state’s education facilities. In this regard, 89 projects have been undertaken and 403 health and safety projects are expected to be completed by December 2003.
Section II – Improving Teacher Quality
NJDOE has addressed the issue of assuring the state complies with the federal requirements of NCLB for highly qualified teachers through the currently established state certification requirements and the development of a state standard (NJ High Objective Uniform State Evaluation (HOUSE) Standard). The development of a HOUSE standard will assist teachers in meeting the requirements of being highly qualified by 2005 – 2006.
NJDOE continues to assist school districts through our web site database NJHIRE. NJ continues to provide incentives for preschool teachers in special needs districts.
Another priority was to make quality professional development opportunities available to teachers. NJDOE provides $2 million for teacher mentoring aid because research has shown that mentoring teachers is a successful strategy for providing support and keeping qualified teachers in the classrooms.
NJDOE has established a summer institute to assist new and experienced teachers to master new techniques and enhance their subject matter knowledge.
In an effort to assure that all classrooms are headed by highly qualified teachers, financial incentives have been established to encourage teachers to attain national accreditation. This certification process is rigorous and demanding, requiring teachers to complete a series of assignments tailored to the developmental level, of their students.
Section III: Increasing Access to Early Childhood Programs
In 2001–2002 a total of close to 30,000 children were enrolled in the Abbott Preschool programs. Over 9,000 of these were in district-run classrooms and the rest in child- care- provider and Head Start classrooms. As of January 2003, the actual enrollment is 36,465 with over 11,000 in district-run classrooms. This represents an increase of 22 percent.
For the 2003- 2004 school year, we anticipate an increase in preschool enrollment of 15.5 percent to 42,135 which represents over 80 percent of the universe of eligible Abbott three-and four-years-olds in the state.
In the SFY 2004 budget, $142.4 million will be utilized by NJDOE and $114.5 million will be utilized by New Jersey Department of Human Services to continue to expand the Abbott preschool programs.
Section IV: Increasing Access to a College-Bound Curriculum
New Jersey has implemented strategies and data collection techniques that afford an increase in the number of minority students enrolled in advanced placement classes.
On an annual basis, NJDOE collects and analyzes data on advanced placement enrollment. This data demonstrates that New Jersey has experienced an increase in the number of minority students enrolled in advanced placement classes and programs.
Section V: Creating Smaller Class Sizes
NJDOE maintains a philosophical approach to classroom instruction that includes creating smaller class sizes and smaller schools. This is evident through the development and implementation of the class-size reduction initiative and the schools within schools model.
Section VI: Closing the Digital Divide
The NJDOE has made great strides toward addressing the digital divide in the state through increased computer access and increased professional development opportunities for teachers. Through a recent school technology survey, findings indicate that 81 percent of the teachers have technology skills at intermediate, advanced or instructor levels.
Through various federal and state-funded programs, the access to computers in school districts has increased significantly on a statewide basis. Currently, there is 1 multimedia computer for every 4.4 children in the classroom and approximately 90 percent of all classrooms have Internet connectivity.
In addition, 92.7 percent of the districts in the state have technology coordinators.
Section VII: High Stakes Testing
All students in New Jersey are held to the same high academic standards that are measured through the Elementary School Proficiency Assessment (ESPA)/ NJ Assessment of Skills and Knowledge 4 (NJASK 4), Grade Eight Proficiency Assessment (GEPA) and the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA). NJDOE is aware that students have different needs and as such, multiple methods of assessment are used. For example, New Jersey offers the Alternative Placement Assessment (APA) for students with disabilities and MAC II for students with limited English proficiency.
Section VIII: Reducing the Dropout Rate
To gain an increased awareness of the magnitude of this issue, NJDOE has implemented additional practices to increase the accuracy of information in this area, including the issuance of only one state-endorsed high school diploma, implementation of more comprehensive data collection efforts and reporting measures to monitor dropout rate by student demographics and cohorts.
Section IX: Increasing Parental Involvement
New Jersey has established a state Parent/Family Involvement Committee consisting of parents, teachers, school administrators, state officials and representatives from business, community-based agencies and education associations. The charge of this committee is to develop recommendations to outreach and engage parents in education issues and to advise state and local policy makers on parent/family education issues.
Section X: Addressing Special Education and the Overrepresentation and Underservicing of Minority Children
NJDOE is working collaboratively with the Office of Civil Rights on an initiative to research the issue of disproportionate classification of minorities. This initiative has been designed to identify and assess districts where there are indicators of this issue, identify trends, and establish standard criteria for classification and uniform exit criteria toward declassification. The information obtained will be used to assist districts in establishing strategies to address overrepresentation of minority students in special education.
A network of schools in the state has been established to promote positive educational experiences in programs and practices in addressing academic achievement gaps, special education and small schools in selected school districts. This network of schools has been established to encourage school districts to share information with each other and with the Department of Education (DOE) in order to gain a better understanding of what works and what may not work in classrooms statewide. Additional information on these networks can be found at www.nj.gov/njded/nos.
Section XI: Eliminating Racial Disparities in the Suspension and Expulsion of Students
Historically, New Jersey maintains less than one percent occurrence of student expulsions. This method of disciplinary action is not routinely utilized in the state, as all students are entitled to a thorough and efficient education.
Through the June 2003 Electronic and Violence and Vandalism Reporting System (EVVRS), findings indicate that the percentage of suspensions imposed by districts declined from the 2000-2001 to the 2001-2002 school years by two percent.
Section XII: Addressing Resegregation Trends
To assist in addressing resegregation, NJDOE works collaboratively with school districts such as Englewood to create academies that include academic and vocational programs, including information management systems, law and public safety, finance, pre-engineering and performance arts. Such academies have demonstrated success in resolving desegregation orders.
NJDOE has also worked collaboratively with school districts, e.g. Montclair, to establish and support the development of magnet schools. Such schools promote educational equity within communities.
