NJDOE ACCOMPLISHMENTS IN EDUCATION 2002-04

Commissioner William L. Librera
November 1, 2004

The Department of Education has grouped the state’s educational initiatives into five major themes to be addressed:

-Teacher and administrator quality;
-Raising student achievement;
-Diverse and multiple paths for student success;
-Innovative and outstanding practices/programs; and
-Public engagement and communication and public accountability.

Teacher and Administrator Quality

The Department of Education has done the following:

PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS

• Recommended the adoption of new Professional Licensure and Standards regulations in December 2003. The State Board of Education’s new rules are part of a comprehensive review of all chapters of the state’s administrative code to identify regulations that were overly prescriptive, outdated, or creating high costs and low benefits to those affected by them. The new regulations are linked to the Core Curriculum Content Standards and contain the following: the new professional standards; national accreditation requirements for standards-based teacher preparation programs; a continuous path of teacher training from college preparation to ongoing professional development; and certification requirements that result in highly qualified teachers as defined in the federal No Child Left Behind Act.
  

• Worked with the Professional Teaching Standards Board to develop the new teaching standards aligned with national standards that have been adopted as part of the licensing code. These standards provide the basis for teacher preparation programs, as well as mentoring and professional development.

• Received a grant in 2002 from the Wallace Foundation to develop national professional standards for school leaders, as well as national professional accreditation for preparation programs in conjunction with the State Action for Education Leadership Project (SAELP) consortium. These standards will serve as the foundation for college administrator preparation programs, as well as induction and professional development. SAELP is a consortium of national education organizations led by the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) that includes the Education Commission of the States, the National Association of State Boards of Education, the National Conference of State Legislatures, and the National Governor’s Association.
  
  
• Received an additional grant for $600,000 in 2004 from the Wallace Foundation to fund the second phase of the State Action for Educational Leadership Project, which will focus on improving educational leadership and conditions of leadership practice in New Jersey -- one of only fifteen states awarded this funding. During the next three years, the state standards for school leaders, adopted by the State Board of Education, will be embedded in policies, processes, and infrastructures across the continuum of practice at the state, district, and school levels. The goal is to bring about continuous school improvement and improved student achievement. In addition, the project will address the conditions of leadership practice for school leaders to assure their successful recruitment and retention.

TEACHER PREPARATION AND CREDENTIALS

• Won an award of $7.9 million in a state grant from the U.S. Department of Education over a period of three years to enhance teacher quality throughout the state. The grant was awarded to New Jersey for the DOE proposal to redesign teacher education programs; strengthen the alternate route; and provide mentoring support for novice teachers.
  
  
• Initiated new programs into the state’s alternate route system. Two of these involve four-year institutions of higher education – the Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT), offered at New Jersey City University and the Summer-to-Summer Program developed by the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey. The third is the Community College Provider Plan developed in conjunction with the New Jersey Principals and Supervisors Association and the New Jersey Association of School Administrators. It features a uniform curriculum at 16 community colleges and a pre-employment course that counts toward the 200 hours required for certification.
  
  
• Announced new incentives for national board certification for teachers through a collaborative arrangement among the Governor, the Department of Education, the Business Coalition for Educational Excellence, and the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. The program includes payment of the application fee, mentoring while enrolled in the program, and receipt of a master’s degree upon completion. In 2004, there are 68 teachers in New Jersey with national board certification.
  
  
• Recommended that the State Board of Education change the grade point average required for certification by lowering it temporarily to 2.5 for those who graduated from college prior to September 1, 2004 to allow more flexibility in the eligibility requirements for teacher certification. Those who graduated on or after September 1, 2004 are required to meet the more rigorous 2.75 grade point average requirement.
  
  
• Recommended that the State Board of Education raise the passing scores on the Praxis tests that prospective teachers must pass in order to obtain state certification and also established new tests for middle school teachers to ensure that they are highly qualified in every subject they teach. The scores will be boosted in stages, so that ultimately the cut scores will be among the highest in the nation. (6/04)
  
  
• Supported district implementation of the Highly Qualified Teacher provisions required by the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). The department also developed the New Jersey High Objective Uniform State Evaluation (HOUSE) Standard, an alternative way veteran teachers can satisfy the definition of the Highly Qualified Teacher provision in the federal legislation.
  
  
• Collaborated with the professional educational organizations to develop the framework for a performance-based portfolio assessment for existing paraprofessionals to meet NCLB requirements. The department has continued to identify available assessments, services, and educational programs specifically designed for paraprofessionals to meet the requirement of NCLB
  
  
• Completed development of a new Web-based Teacher Certification Information System that will simplify and expedite all aspects of the certification process for applicants, school district personnel, and department staff.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

• Worked with the the teacher’s advisory council and participated in the Governor’s teacher town meetings in every county to provide an opportunity for teachers to communicate their ideas and concerns directly to the Governor and the Commissioner that helped shape educational policy for the state.
  
  
• Collaborated with corporate partners to replicate successful models of professional development, such as the Merck Summer Professional Development Model for Science Teachers that is currently being adapted for literacy and mathematics.
  
  
• Worked vigorously to extend the present 100-hour professional development process to a more rigorous and coherent approach to professional development for all teachers. To help teachers have access to high-quality professional development, the department did the following:
  
  • Sponsored numerous preschool conferences and other sustained professional development on topics such as the roles of the master teacher and early childhood education administrator; enhancing continuity and transition pre-K to grade 3; inclusion of students with disabilities in regular classrooms; facilitating English language acquisition; and literacy development..
  • Inaugurated a French Resource Center at Rutgers University to develop and conduct professional development programs for New Jersey’s French teachers and provide the latest materials and resources for the teaching of French from preschool through the university.
  • Signed a memorandum of agreement with the Italian Consulate to promote the teaching of the Italian language and culture in New Jersey schools, including an incentive program for Italian instruction in grades K-8, especially for districts with large Italian-American populations; a visiting Italian teacher program; professional development opportunities and exchanges; and development of a resource center for the teaching of Italian. Initiated a year-long series of professional development opportunities in July 2003 for teachers of English language learners. Specialized training began with 50 teachers from 31 selected districts who learned effective strategies for teaching English and other subjects to students who speak a language other than English.
  • Developed a partnership with New Jersey Network (NJN), Verizon, and New Jersey Professional Education Port (NJPEP) to develop ten video-based professional development modules that include classroom demonstrations by New Jersey teachers. The modules also feature experts describing research and multipoint videoconferencing with NJ school districts.
  • Completed the first of a five-year professional development series for health teachers in Juvenile Justice Commission and Department of Human Services facilities that serve adolescents.
  • Sponsored, along with the Gifted Program of Montclair State University and Passaic County Community College, "Symposium V -- Mining Giftedness and Discovering Diverse Gifts – Identifying Giftedness in Minority Populations" targeted to staff development needs of teachers and administrators in the northern region.
• In the area of early literacy, the offices of Reading First and Urban Literacy conducted a two-day state conference on early literacy assessment in October 2003 with 300 participants, and in June 2004, 200 educators participated in a two-day early literacy conference devoted to curriculum and instruction.
  
• Provided over 80 days of direct professional development and capacity-building in 2003-04 at the district level in primary literacy to Abbott districts, reaching thousands of teachers, support staff, and administrators.

RECRUITMENT

• Held the following recruitment events in addition to a variety of career fairs that DOE recruiters routinely staff:
  
  • Two world languages recruitment events on March 16 and 19, 2004 – one in the north and one in the south of the state -- to assist districts in finding qualified world language teachers. This is the fifth year that the department has hosted world language recruitment events.
  • Bilingual preschool teacher recruitment events in October 2004.
  • Three presentations designed to promote the Troops to Teachers Program to retired members of the military.

Raising Student Achievement

The New Jersey Department of Education has done the following:

EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION

• Upgraded the quality of the preschool programs in the Abbott districts where over 43,000 of the eligible children are enrolled. New staff that is hired is certified and those who have been in the program that are not certified are working on obtaining their training and credentials by the deadline. Ninety-five percent of the preschool teachers are appropriately certified.
  
  
• Developed the Abbott Preschool Program Implementation Guidelines and the Three-year Operational Plan that began in the 2003-04 school year. Representatives from the Governor’s Office, the Departments of Education and Human Services, local districts, community childcare providers, Head Start agencies, professional education organizations, advocacy groups, parents, and other community organizations worked on task forces and committees to develop the research-based guidelines for all aspects of the preschool program. The guidelines will help districts to fully meet the Abbott mandates, as well as shape the districts’ Early Childhood Program Aid Three-year Plan and Budget.
  
  
• Launched the Early Learning Improvement Consortium (ELIC), a multiyear initiative in which participating institutions of higher education (IHEs) assist the department and Abbott districts in identifying the particularized needs of preschool children and programs. The ELIC has collected and reported data on children and classrooms utilizing faculty from NJ IHEs to apply structured program evaluation instruments, such as the Early Childhood Environmental Rating Scale - Revised (ECERS-R) on 13 percent of preschool classrooms. The ELIC also administered the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test on randomly selected kindergarten students. The data show significant improvement in classroom quality and meaningful gains in school readiness.
  
  
• Developed a performance-based assessment (PBA) in conjunction with the Early Learning Improvement Consortium (ELIC) to be used in preschool classrooms and implemented over a three-year period of time in the 30 Abbott districts. The PBA is based on the latest research and fully aligned with the NJ Preschool Teaching and Learning Expectations: Standards of Quality. Teachers learn how to observe children in the normal preschool environment on a regular basis, collect samples of work, and record observations. The data will be used to make adjustments to the learning environment where needed and enable an evaluation of young children’s skills statewide.
  
  
• Convened early childhood experts and stakeholders to develop a self-evaluation tool for Abbott preschool programs to guide the development of improvement plans. The resulting system is the Self Assessment Validation System (SAVS) designed to guide the preschool program through systematic self-appraisal and aid program improvement. The SAVS is derived from the NJ Program Implementation Guidelines, as well as the Guidelines for Appropriate Curriculum Content and Assessment in Programs Serving Children Ages 3 through 8 of the National Association for the Education of Young Children and National Association of Early Childhood Specialists in State Departments of Education. Districts have developed program improvement plans and begun implementing the improvements in this continuous improvement system.
  
  
• Presented a second-year report on the Abbott preschool programs prepared by the Early Learning Improvement Consortium (ELIC) to the State Board of Education. In 2003-04, the fifth year of the state-mandated program, the 30 Abbott districts enrolled 38,000 eligible three- and four-year-olds – close to three-fourths of the 53,000 who are eligible. The report concluded that quality is continuing to improve, and that children are markedly better-prepared for success in school. The state’s investment in 2003-04 was $407 million. Projected enrollment for 2004-05 is over 43,000. Thirty-two percent of Abbott preschoolers are served in school-based programs, eight percent in federally funded Head Start programs, and 60 percent in private contracted child care centers. The ELIC report also referred to an earlier report by the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) that gave New Jersey high marks nationally in regard to Abbott quality preschool standards.
  
  
• Offered a comprehensive year-long training annually for approximately 200 master teachers who, in turn, train, mentor, and coach over 4,000 classroom teachers and assistant teachers in the Abbott districts. The course was designed to more clearly define the master teacher role, ensuring that master teachers have the skills needed to foster change and improve classroom quality. The training focused on curriculum, including the research-based guidelines in New Jersey Revised Program Expectations: Standards of Quality, and assessing classroom quality through the use of structured instruments, such as the Early Childhood Environmental Rating Scale – Revised (ECERS-R), Supports for Early Literacy Assessment (SELA), and Preschool Mathematics Inventory (PCMI).
  
  
• Initiated the Early Launch to Learning Initiative (ELLI) that increases access to preschool for approximately 20,000 four-year-olds in the 2004-05 school year. The initial budget appropriation of $15 million will enable districts to use their state grants to establish a new preschool program, either half- or full-day, expand an existing half-day program to full-day, or improve the quality of an existing preschool program by decreasing class size, serving more children, or offering longer hours. All districts currently serving elementary-aged children can apply with the exception of the Abbott districts that already have mandated preschool programs.

LITERACY

• Trained and assigned 30 reading coaches to teachers in 80 schools who work with non-achieving students to help them find the most effective ways to reach at-risk readers. Governor McGreevey committed $10 million a year for four years to provide the reading coaches to districts most in need of this assistance. In the first year, each coach was assigned to work in three different schools with a total of 30 teachers. Coaches worked directly with nearly 700 teachers with approximately 25,000 students benefiting from the program. In the 2003-04 school year, 60 reading coaches worked with another 2000 elementary school peers in more than 120 schools. Additional professional development opportunities planned and delivered by reading coaches using best practices in literacy instruction will be available to more than 50 schools identified around the state.
  
  • Created the Home District Initiative under which the state may pay full or half salary and benefits of the reading coaches who completed the first year of the program (2002-03), if the coaches’ districts have one or more schools eligible for the coaching services or meet other established criteria.
    
    
• Chaired the Governor’s Task Force on Improving the Quality of Early Literacy Education in New Jersey. The task force was charged with the responsibility of identifying best practices in teaching literacy and making sure that educators in New Jersey are not leaving any child behind because he or she cannot read. The June 2002 task force report contains valuable recommendations for developing strong literacy programs. The following are literacy initiatives intended to help students read by the end of grade three:
  
  • Awarded the subgrants of a federal six-year $120 million Reading First grant to improve literacy from K-3. Districts with low reading scores are eligible, specifically for early literacy initiatives.
  • Formulated Abbott regulations to require intensive early literacy programs similar to Reading First.
  • Awarded a total of $4,000,000 of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) – Title II, D funding to 24 school districts for the implementation of the three-year Students Using Technology to Achieve Reading and Writing (STAR-W) grant program for students in grades 3-5. The grant program focuses on academic achievement by meeting New Jersey’s Core Curriculum Content Standards for language arts/literacy in schools that need assistance.
  • Created the Governor’s Book Club to encourage students to read. During the 2002-03 school year, more than 60,000 children in K-3 registered online to join.
• Established the Office of Urban Literacy to work with Abbott districts. It developed the literacy assessment team process and protocol, and assisted 13 Abbott districts with writing and implementing intensive early literacy plans that resulted in a rise of 8.2% in language arts literacy scores in fourth grade between 2003 and 2004.
  
  
• Sponsored the first two-day early literacy conference in August 2003 entitled, "Keeping the Promise: Literacy for all Children." More than 700 educators, reading and literacy coaches, principals, and Reading First coordinators attended the conference to learn about research-based teaching practices focused on literacy. In 2004, there were additional literacy conferences to reinforce the importance of early literacy. Topics that were covered during the conferences included the following: early childhood education, technology, bilingual/English as a second language, special education, the six critical components of literacy, and educational leadership.
  
  
• Received a report from the Middle Grades Literacy Task Force entitled "Improving the Quality of Literacy Education in New Jersey’s Middle Grades." The nineteen-member task force was charged with initiating a statewide conversation about literacy education in grades 4-8; producing a consensus document that would guide future policy and practice and contain recommendations for action; and improving the quality of literacy instruction in grades 4-8. The report addresses these three areas.
  
  
• Launched the New Jersey After 3 initiative that requires a $15 million investment to create a public/private partnership that will bring quality educational and recreational after-school programs to 20,000 children. This will be the first state-sponsored after-school program in the nation, and it will be administered by a nonprofit organization. In the first round of funding, there were grants ranging in size from $50,000 to $500,000 awarded for programs to begin in October 2004.
  
  
• Awarded a total of $5 million to 25 continuation and five new Even Start Family Literacy Programs – 15 in the northern region, five in the central, and ten in the southern region. The awards, granted to local education agencies, community-based organizations, and institutions of higher education, ranged from $86,000 to $225,000. Grant funds will be used to provide a seamless system of services, consisting of early childhood education, adult education, and parenting education to low-income families throughout the state to assist children in reaching their full potential.
  
  • Sponsored participation for Even Start directors and coordinators for the Even Start Research-based Early Childhood and Parenting Education Professional Development series "Making Meaningful Changes in Program Design," sponsored by the United States Department of Education and RMC Research Development Corporation in April 2004. This professional development series provided research-based findings concerning the language and literacy development of three- to five-year-old children, and the implications of these findings to inform program design and instruction.

STANDARDS

• Recommended the revision and adoption of academic standards in nine content areas as the Core Curriculum Content Standards. The State Board of Education adopted revised standards based on the Department of Education’s recommendations. Seven sets of standards were revised in language arts literacy, math, science, social studies, visual and performing arts, comprehensive health and physical education, and world languages. Two were new sets of standards in technological literacy and career education and consumer, family and life skills that replace the 1996 Cross-Content Workplace Readiness Standards. The technology standards are to be incorporated into all areas of the academic standards.
  
  • Held three regional conferences to raise awareness of the Amistad Commission’s charge to help the department and schools incorporate topics related to African-American history into the social studies curricula of New Jersey’s schools.
  • Developed a comprehensive technology plan, titled "Working toward the Future with Our Children." The plan, which began taking shape in early 2002, sets four goals and outlines numerous ways to implement a sound technology program, both on state and local levels.
    
    
• Revised preschool standards that were adopted by the State Board of Education in 2004. The standards describe the social, emotional and learning skills that are to be developed in the state’s 43,000 full-day preschool children. The standards are contained in the department’s publication entitled Preschool Teaching and Learning Expectations: Standards of Quality.
  
  
• Revised the New Jersey English Language Proficiency Standards for English as a second language students. New standards were needed to conform to changes in the revised language arts literacy Core Curriculum Content Standards and requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act.
  
  
• Amended the Standards and Assessment code that contains the Core Curriculum Content Standards and the statewide assessment system. The amendments are designed to create greater flexibility for high school students to select courses and establish new paths to a high school diploma that place priority on demonstrating proficiency in required content areas. It also accommodates the new senior year project that allows students who have passed the High School Proficiency Assessment more flexibility to pursue other experiences in high school.
  
  
• Endorsed the Strategic Plan for Systemic Improvement in Public Education in the State of New Jersey that was adopted by the State Board of Education. The five-year plan covers education through 2008. The four major areas covered by the strategic plan are as follows: assessment as a measure of the Core Curriculum Content Standards; exemplary educational practices; literacy in language arts and math; and teacher preparation and professional development.
  
  
• Supported the State Board resolution recognizing November 17-21, 2003 as International Education Week to promote awareness and respect for citizens of other countries and international education. The department has created an international leadership team to advance the Governor’s call for students to read about cultures and traditions from their own heritage, as well as other nations, use technology, learn about world affairs, and learn one or more world languages. In October 2004, the department co-hosted the first International Education Summit that featured a roundtable discussion, international speakers, and a town meeting for the participants.

ASSESSMENT

• Administered statewide tests in language arts literacy and math for grades 3 and 4 – NJ ASK3 and NJ ASK4 -- in May 2003. The department has improved its communications about testing and test scores to districts, teachers, parents, and students with special emphasis on giving teachers information they can use to shape classroom instruction.
  
  
• Formed a partnership with the Coalition for Responsible Educational Assessment, Testing and Evaluation (CREATE) and the Business Coalition for Educational Excellence (BCEE) consortium in the amount of $750,000, to be supplemented by $100,000 from BCEE and $400,000 of in-kind support from CREATE member organizations. The grant is for a five-year pilot project involving nine school districts to create performance-based assessments to be used in conjunction with standardized tests in all core content areas – beginning with math, language arts and science. The assessments will include student projects, demonstrations, competitions, and problem-solving tasks.
  
  
• Joined two national consortia led by Oklahoma and Nevada State Education Agencies (SEAs) to benefit from two No Child Left Behind-Enhanced Assessment Grant programs developed to fund projects that will help improve the quality of assessment instruments and systems used by states to measure the achievement of all students -- especially students with disabilities and those with limited English proficiency.

OVERCOMING ACHIEVEMENT GAPS

• Contracted to create NJ SMART, a student-level database, to be able to track students individually from year to year, especially to determine whether we are making adequate progress in helping underachieving students. The student-level data are necessary to identify trends and patterns of achievement and pinpoint the gaps that still exist.
  
  
• Mediated an agreement with the Education Law Center that grants increased program flexibility based on determinations of educational effectiveness for over 40 percent of the Abbott Districts.
  
  
• Shifted the emphasis in the three state-operated school districts to steady improvement toward achievement goals that are reachable, so that the districts can be returned to local control.
  
  
• Conducted a summer pilot program offering 250 selected students who had not passed the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA) during their junior year the opportunity to receive five weeks of intensive instruction and then take the HSPA again in late August. The purpose was to increase the number of students who pass the HSPA for graduation and decrease reliance on the Special Review Assessment (SRA) that is intended as an alternative to the HSPA in very limited circumstances. Fifty students in each of the following districts participated: Englewood, Hillside, Jersey City, Franklin, and Vineland. In September, the department released a summary of the HSPA results for the participants. Of the 137 summer institute students who took the language arts portion of the test, 74.5% achieved proficiency. Out of the 215 who took the math portion of the test, 35.8% achieved proficiency. The department has created a math committee to look at instructional practices and ways to improve them in order to produce a higher percentage of math proficiency.
  
  
• Won $13.2 million in federal grant money to provide English language instruction for the approximately 100,000 5-17-year-olds whose English proficiency is limited. In addition, the department won an additional million dollars a year for three years from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to offer subgrants to schools that enroll significant numbers of refugee children.
  
  
• Awarded 14 grants under the federal 21^st Century Community Learning Centers (21^st CCLC) program – six in the northern region, four in the central, and four in the southern with grant amounts ranging from $232,000 to the allowable maximum of $500,000. These funds will be used to increase the number of out-of-school-time programs statewide for students in grades 4-12 who attend schools with a high percentage of low-income students. In 2003, year two of the grant program, the department released the notice for continuation of the grant which included additional supplemental funds of $9,000 per grantee and award amounts ranging from $232,000 to $509,000.
  
  • Entered into a contract with the New Jersey School-Age Care Coalition (NJSACC) to provide nine regional workshops and/or trainings in the areas of evaluation, sustainability, and program quality and implementation for the 21^st CCLC grantees. NJSACC is the state’s national affiliate to the National School-Age Care Alliance (NSACA) whose mission it is to promote and support the development, continuity, and expansion of quality programs for children and youth during out-of-school time.
    
    
• Designed and implemented the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) single accountability system that identifies schools moving toward the goal of 100 percent proficiency in language arts and math by the year 2014. The law requires all states to measure each public school’s and district’s achievement and establish achievement targets for the state by calculating Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) for the schools and districts to determine whether they have made sufficient progress toward the established annual targets.
  
  • Worked in collaboration with the department’s NCLB advisory council to develop the Supplemental Educational Services (SES) provider application, as well as the review and approval process for the providers. The department offered technical assistance sessions for those interested in becoming providers and also to school districts regarding the implementation of the SES provisions under NCLB. The 116 approved providers include for-profit and nonprofit organizations, small and large private tutoring companies, faith-based organizations, school districts, and online providers.
  • Conducted a two-day Title I Leadership Development Institute for school districts identified as in need of improvement. It was initiated in response to the federal call for accountability and to develop leadership strategies to promote school reform.
  • Awarded Comprehensive School Reform grants to 35 new participants. These are funds that are available for schools identified as in need of improvement under NCLB. The grants are intended to stimulate school-wide change to improve student achievement. The new awards were in addition to those granted to 75 schools that were in their third year of participation.

HEALTH AND SAFETY

• Adopted criteria under the No Child Left Behind Act that give children and parents in New Jersey an Unsafe School Choice Option. The first provision of the Unsafe School Choice Option Policy applies only to schools that are identified by the Department of Education as being persistently dangerous. The second policy provision, which applies to all schools receiving funds under the No Child Left Behind Act, provides school choice to any student who is a victim of a violent criminal offense, as determined by law.
  
  
• Created a new DOE Web site, "Keeping our Kids Safe," at http://www.state.nj/njded/students/safety to emphasize the importance of observing School Violence Awareness Week in October and encouraging districts to find diverse ways to create a safe school environment for all students at all times. It contains in one place all of the information that relates to safe and drug-free schools, student health, a safe physical environment, and student behavior issues.
  
  
• Participated in launching the Fitness for Life Campaign to motivate public school students to adopt healthier and more active lifestyles. The department created a nine-minute video on fitness in collaboration with the New Jersey Council for Physical Fitness and Sports and New Jersey Network.
  
  
• Participated in the Governor’s Healthy Choices, Healthy Kids initiative and the Actions for Healthy Kids initiative, both focusing on healthy eating and physical activity. These programs involve the Departments of Agriculture and Health and Senior Services, as well as community-based organizations and agencies.
  
  
• Initiated, in collaboration with the Violence Institute of New Jersey (VINJ), at the University of Medicine and Dentistry, the Positive Student Discipline Reform Demonstration Project. The goal of the project is to create safety and order in schools without unnecessarily excluding students. Under the project, three pilot districts will implement research-based approaches to school safety, including student discipline and positive student development, for addressing the priority needs of the participating districts. A panel of representatives from statewide organizations with interests in education has been convened to provide advice and serve as a resource for the project.
  
  
• Trained nearly 200 administrators and support staff in the use of the Electronic Violence and Vandalism Reporting System (EVVRS). Participants in the three regional trainings learned keys to data entry, editing and report verification and discussed local standards for reporting.

Diverse and Multiple Paths for Student Achievement

The Department of Education has done the following:

HIGH SCHOOL REQUIREMENTS

• Worked with the State Board of Education to develop new high school graduation requirements that took effect with the 2004-05 freshman class. The regulations, adopted by the State Board of Education in January 2004, permit greater flexibility in teaching and learning the skills and knowledge required for high school graduation and they represent a shift away from seat-time course requirements in favor of optional ways for students to demonstrate proficiency in required subject matter. The new regulations set a total minimum graduation requirement of 110 credits linked to the Core Curriculum Content Standards.
  
  • There are two options open to districts. The first modifies existing credit requirements for the visual and performing arts, practical arts, and world languages, allowing 5 credits for courses in career education and consumer, family, and life skills or vocational-technical education. It also calls for technological literacy to be taught across the curriculum.
  • The second option expands flexibility at the local level by allowing schools to choose from an array of models for developing activities or programs linked to the standards, such as theme-based programs, independent study, magnet programs, co-curricular or extra-curricular activities, internships, student exchange programs, distance learning, community service, or other structured learning experiences.
    
    
• Introduced a 12^th-Grade Pilot Program designed to encourage high school seniors who have finished all graduation requirements to enroll in college-credit courses or seek volunteer opportunities, among other choices, for both personal and intellectual growth. The pilot program encourages the participating districts to offer high school seniors a variety of out-of-school options, such as online courses and community service work.
  
  • Announced plans for an Entrepreneurship/Business Management Academy with Camden County College, Rutgers University, and six Camden high schools participating. The academy is the first seamless pre-kindergarten through senior year of college initiative in the state of New Jersey, and it is a model program for the 12^th-grade pilot program and senior year initiative.
    
    
• Convened representatives quarterly from schools throughout the state to share senior year best practices and encouraged a select group of schools to design innovative ways to restructure the program options in grade 12. The results are as follows:
  
  • College courses offered at the high school or on campus to earn dual credits;
  • Certificate/noncredit college courses that allow students to explore medical and technology fields such as certified nursing assistant or office systems technology;
  • Service-learning projects supervised by school personnel in collaboration with community organizations to allow exploration of a career in service;
  • Work-based internships/apprenticeships that are supervised alternatives in a profession that may become a student’s career choice; and
  • Senior projects that involve students in long-term research and evaluation around a theme chosen collaboratively between the student and the teacher.
    
    
• Conducted a three-day summit in September 2004 on "Re-inventing New Jersey’s High Schools" that was co-sponsored by the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) and the NJ Principals and Supervisors Association. The summit took place at the Embassy Suites in Piscataway. It provided teams of educators from 30 New Jersey high schools with the opportunity to participate in workshops with national experts and practitioners.
  
  
• Collaborated with the Historically Black Colleges and Universities College Fairs of New Jersey to sponsor a series of college fairs for high school students throughout the state from November 15-21, 2003. More than 3,500 students from nearly 70 large schools attended and spoke with representatives from 35 historically black institutions of higher education.

CAREER ACADEMIES

• Launched four different career academy programs during the 2002-03 school year:
  
  • The first was the partnership of Pfizer and Morris School District with a $500,000 commitment from Pfizer to build a career exploration laboratory for a medical/health program that will benefit all students at Morristown High School.
  • The second partnership was PSE&G with the Trenton School District and Mercer County Community College to develop a utility engineering program.
  • Third were the Academies at Englewood that have the involvement of Verizon and feature programs in law and public safety and informational technology. These programs are the solution to a desegregation order to the district that has produced over thirty years of litigation.
  • Fourth was the partnership of Commerce Bank and the Cherry Hill School District that launched the Cherry Hill Business Academy for Studies and Experiences (BASE). The academy is available to the more than 3,600 high school students from Cherry Hill’s two high schools and involves three colleges -- Drexel University, Camden County Community College and Rutgers University.
    
    
• Announced plans for career academies and workforce development programs for 2003-04 as follows:
  
  • Pershing to work with Jersey City Schools to create a career academy for finance;
  • Merrill Lynch to collaborate with Trenton School District to create a career academy for finance;
  • The New Jersey Education Association (NJEA) will assist Trenton School District with a career academy for future educators; and
  • Meridian Health will collaborate with Neptune Township Public Schools to develop a career academy for science and medical arts with emphasis on emergency management.
  • Merck to work with Linden Public Schools to develop a workforce program;
  • Johnson and Johnson to work with New Brunswick School District to create a Bridge to Employment;
  • New Jersey Resources will collaborate with Ocean County Vocational Schools on program development; and
  • The Biotechnology Council of New Jersey will develop a program with Monmouth County Vocational School.
    
    
• Held a statewide conference for 800 participants in August 2003 entitled "Generation Next: Understanding the New Model of Vocational-Technical Education in New Jersey" to address the vocational-technical needs of students in the 21^st century. The conference featured workshop presenters from across the country on various aspects of career preparation and workforce training for students and adult learners.

CHARTER SCHOOLS AND INTERDISTRICT CHOICE

• Received sixteen new charter school applications in July 2004 that are under review. In September, 51 charter schools opened their doors to approximately 14,000 students. The 2005 state budget includes approximately $5.2 million in additional aid for charter schools.
  
  
• Submitted an amendment to the approved $11 million three-year federal charter school grant to include pre-charter planning grants of up to $20,000 and an extension of the grant period for planning and implementation grants from two to three years. Additionally, the department has requested a waiver from the federal Department of Education to use up to 20 percent of these funds to support dissemination of successful charter school practices by veteran charter schools that have demonstrated financial viability and the ability to improve student achievement
  
  
• Released the 2002-03 annual report for the Interdistrict School Choice program featuring 12 choice districts that enrolled 461 choice students. In 2003-04, 13 choice districts are expected to enroll 736 students. The program must be reauthorized by the Legislature by June 2005. Benefits of the program noted in the report include smaller class size, innovative programs, expansion of classes such as art and music, adding diversity, and avoiding overcrowding or underutilization. Manchester Regional High School District was the 15^th choice school selected, and it is offering access to a technology program in 2004-05.

Innovative and Outstanding Practices and Programs

The Department of Education has done the following:

CHARACTER EDUCATION

• Established the New Jersey Center for Character Education at Rutgers University in 2002. The center is funded through a $2 million four-year grant from the U.S. Department of Education. New Jersey was one of only five states to receive an award under the Partnerships in Character Education grant program, Title V, Part D of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. The new center will assist the department in developing new initiatives to improve character education in our schools so that they can help our children become productive, informed and actively involved citizens.
  
  • Entered into the second year of a four-year Memorandum of Agreement with Rutgers University to further develop the New Jersey Center for Character Education (NJCCE). The center has facilitated a three-year strategic plan for character education improvement in the 10 selected collaborating Local Education Agency (LEA) partners and met with 10 teacher preparation institutions of higher education to discuss how character education has been infused through the course work.
  • Released the "New Jersey Character Education Partnership Initiative: Report on Year-Two Outcomes." This report provides an overview of the continued progress of the state initiative and summarizes the data submitted by second-year participating public schools for the 2001-02 school year. More than 700,000 students participated in a variety of character-building activities throughout year two. The report provides descriptive data on school, district, student, teacher, and community involvement. Summary data is also provided on program selection, grade levels involved in the initiative, and the times in which school districts provided character education. A second-year report has also been published.
  • Planned and hosted a full-day symposium focusing on sustainability and infusion of character education for after-school programs. This November 2003 workshop was open to New Jersey’s current 21^st Century Community Learning Centers (CCLC) grantees.

AWARDS

• Presented $25,000 prizes to schools in the first and second annual Governor’s Schools of Excellence award ceremonies held in November. The winning schools – 25 in 2003 and 22 in 2004 were honored for demonstrating effective practices to prepare their students for the future and for showing significant improvement during a two-year period. Funding for the program is provided through a collaborative effort among Pepco/Conectiv, First Energy Corporation, the Board of Public Utilities, and the Office of the Ratepayer Advocate. The funds can be used for educational purposes to be decided by the school. The school must report to the Commissioner at the end of the school year on how it used the award, and the school will serve as a demonstration center for exemplary programs. A school can win once in three years
  
  
• Presented the $25,000 Milken awards to six individuals for educational excellence in 2002, the first year of the program. In 2003, there were two individuals honored with $25,000 awards and in 2004, there were two.
  
  
• Created the first ceremony in December 2003 for Recognizing Educator Achievement and Leadership (REAL) to bring together honorees from a variety of education award programs during the year. The event featured a morning forum and several professional workshops.
  
  
• Honored the top 15 outstanding graduates from New Jersey’s colleges and universities that have teacher preparation programs with a Commissioner’s Distinguished Teacher Award. (5/04)

INNOVATIVE PROGRAMS

• Launched five projects under the $500,000 P-12 Higher Education/Public School Partnership grant program where institutions of higher education (IHEs) in New Jersey have joined with public school districts in developing an important innovation. The IHE submitted a proposal describing the program and demonstrating how one-year’s support will assist in a multiyear partnership effort. Awards are for one year and do not exceed $85,000. The funding is provided through a $500,000 settlement award from Elizabethtown Gas to promote partnerships of schools and higher education to improve educational quality.
  
  
• Sponsored a conference entitled "Safe, Disciplined and Drug-free Schools Exemplary Programs Showcase" that exposed districts to exemplary science-based substance abuse and violence prevention programs identified by the United States Department of Education’s Safe, Disciplined and Drug-free Schools Expert Panel.
  
  
• Honored the first cohort of operational charter schools with pioneer awards and highlighted achievements of other charter schools that have received state and national awards. In addition, several corporate supporters of the state’s charter schools were recognized at the department’s first annual charter school recognition ceremony (2003).
  
  
• Awarded mini-grants under the Workplace Readiness Incentive for Demonstrating Excellence in Academic Standards (I.D.E.A.S) program to 14 educators for their proposals to implement the Core Curriculum Content Standards. The program is designed to encourage teachers and counselors to develop innovative instructional models that enhance student achievement of the workplace readiness standards that include career planning, use of information and technology, critical thinking, self-management, and safety.
  
  
• Showcased in a special ceremony 13 model programs designed to serve the needs of second language learners – students for whom English is a second language or who are learning world languages. These are the first to be honored under the Second Language Regional Model Programs initiative which is an outgrowth of the 2002 World Languages Model Program initiative. Each model program is awarded $2,300 to support and enhance the program. The schools offering the model programs will serve as regional resource centers for other districts that want to observe the exemplary models so that they can replicate the effective practices. The recognition program is offered every three years. (5/04)
  
  
• Convened the fourth annual Generation Next Conference in August in the Atlantic City Convention Center to address the evolving vocational-technical and adult education needs of students in the 21^st century. It was entitled "Generation Next: Showcasing Best Practices and Innovations in Vocational-technical, Career, and Adult Education" and featured over 50 workshops by presenters from across the country on various aspects of career preparation and workforce training.

SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION

• Awarded over $650 million in school construction funding to six Abbott districts that submitted winning proposals for Demonstration Projects to develop visionary school projects that boost the revitalization of an entire neighborhood. The six winning proposals were submitted by Vineland, East Orange, Trenton, New Brunswick, Camden, and Union City.
  
  
• Announced the first four of at least seven Renaissance Schools which is a program that incorporates small schools into the economic development of a neighborhood. The first is the Roebling Elementary School to be built in Trenton on the site of the former factory. The second is to be located in Neptune where school officials plan to build a $35 million community school and a permanent home for the early childhood center. It will be located in a rehabilitated warehouse on the site. The Renaissance Schools program combines elements of Smart Growth with providing small state-of-the-art schools within the context of the larger community development in urban or older suburban areas. The state’s third and fourth school renaissance zones are in Union City and Paterson. There are already plans to build 21^st century classrooms in over 1300 schools around the state.

Public Communication, Engagement and Accountability

The Department of Education has done the following:

• Shifted away from emphasis on compliance and oversight to that of support and technical assistance to local districts by reorganizing the department into two functional sectors – central operations and field operations with three regional offices that have incorporated the county offices into the regional delivery structure. Another part of the department with extensive field operations is the Abbott division that works directly with the thirty-one Abbott districts.
  
  
• Initiated participation in a national consortium, sponsored by the Council of Chief State School Officers, along with 17 other states, to investigate and determine actual costs to New Jersey of implementing the NCLB federal mandates in the state.
  
  
• Initiated the proposal for the NJ Quality Single Accountability Continuum (NJQSAC) that is before the NJ Legislature. NJQSAC is the Department of Education’s proposed new monitoring system, designed to assess overall district effectiveness and performance as it relates to improving student academic achievement. It simplifies the existing monitoring system and integrates all of the requirements of existing code and statute, Abbott mandates, state takeover law, and No Child Left Behind federal legislation.
  
  • Convened five work groups, involving local school board and district representation, to assist in developing recommendations for regulations, transitioning districts, operational procedures, training, and evaluation criteria.
  • Piloted NJQSAC in 2004-05 in 18 districts, including the three state-operated ones. Legislation is currently being reviewed, and pending passage of the law and regulations, there will be statewide implementation in 2005-06.
    
    
• Released in February the annual New Jersey School Report Card that contains detailed statistical profiles of all public schools in the state. The annual report is prepared for the public to gauge school and student progress, and it has become a major state accountability instrument. It was brought in-house for greater efficiency and accountability with a new format design in 2003.
  
  
• Designed and issued the new No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Report Card in August 2003. The report must be issued annually before the opening of school and show the indicators that schools must meet in order to avoid classification as a school in need of improvement under the law. The report shows assessment data disaggregated by various subgroups, along with attendance figures, adequate yearly progress status, dropout rates, and highly qualified teacher information.
  
  
• Released in March the annual Comparative Spending Guide. The guide is a statistical report that details how local public school districts in New Jersey allocate their financial resources and allows citizens to hold communities accountable for spending.
  
  
• Endorsed a new Web site called "Just for the Kids – New Jersey" that offers comparative data about schools in a way that provides educators and parents with a tool for making decisions. School personnel and parents can view the performance of students in their schools relative to others with similar populations. The site is funded by the Business Coalition for Educational Excellence (BCEE) at the Chamber of Commerce.
  
  
• Set guidelines for school districts to manage administrative costs to direct more money into the classrooms. The purpose is to help districts curtail excessive costs in order to serve children better and relieve undue property tax burdens.
  
  
• Provided assistance to districts that are seeking ways to share services in order to contain operating costs. Such efforts have included sharing administrators, sharing classrooms for special education, collaborating on curriculum development efforts, purchasing textbooks, pooling resources to create new programs, and initiating discussion that leads to other ways to share services.
  
  
• Received approval from the US Department of Education for amendments to the state’s NCLB Consolidated Statewide Accountability Workbook following input from key stakeholders and additional data analysis. The changes include the following: establishing a minimum subgroup size of 40 for participation rates only; increasing the subgroup size for students with disabilities only from 20 to 35; implementing the allowable flexibility for the English language learners’ subgroup in the general assessment system, and implementing recent regulatory changes for special education students participating in the Alternate Proficiency assessment (APA).
  
  
• Revised the annual report and application guidelines and review processes, as well as program review processes, and introduced a post-renewal process for charter schools operating with a renewed charter to enhance charter school accountability.
  
  
• Revised the federal grant program to improve the planning year and start-up success of approved charter applicants and modified the dissemination grants to promote partnerships and consortia that focus on expanding the number of high-quality schools in New Jersey. This fall, the department plans to initiate a new charter development grant program.
  
  
• Established and/or expanded partnerships with nonprofit and government agencies to address the most persistent changes facing charter schools. The department also published the first charter school profile book and held the second annual recognition program to improve public awareness of NJ charter schools.
  
  
• Co-hosted the Delaware Valley Parent Empowerment Fair August 14 at the Penn’s Landing Great Plaza Pier in Philadelphia. Other sponsors were the Delaware and Pennsylvania Departments of Education, as well as the Pennsylvania Parent Information & Resource Center and WDAS radio. The fair gave parents the opportunity to learn as much as possible about being a positive presence in their children’s lives.
  
  
• Designed an online entitlement grant application process called NJ EWEG (Entitlement Web-enabled Grant Application) to expedite the submission, review, and approval of grant applications. Applications for FY 2005 under the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) and No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) were submitted electronically. Entitlement grants are awarded to districts for specific programs based on eligibility formulas prescribed in legislation or regulation.

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