District Encouraged by School Tiers, Evaluation Annoucements

The reclassification of New Jersey School districts and new school performance standards announced last week met an positive response from Hillsborough Superintendent Jorden Schiff.

The . Though the Priority Schools and Focus Schools receive the most intervention according to the governor’s release, Schiff was encouraged rather than concerned about the statement.

 “Those districts that are categorized as most in need should receive assistance,” Schiff said in an emailed statement. “I am encouraged to see that the Department of Education will be focusing on them.”

The bills intend to tie tenure to effectiveness, end forced placements and last-in first-out personnel policies, increase the number of charter school authorizers, permit public schools to be converted to charter schools by local boards of education as well as the New Jersey Department of Education Commissioner, provide tax credits to entities—including corporations—providing scholarships to low-income students, and provide for the creation of as many as 20 “transformation school projects” in five of the state’s worst performing districts, according to the Christie administration.

In addition to the new tiering system, new school performance reports are an expected part of the agenda. According to the release, the reports will include a district’s progress toward closing achievement gaps, comparison to peer schools, performance on state tests over time, and college and career readiness data.

A focus on district growth instead of only test standards was a particular positive for Hillsborough. During several Board of Education meetings, Schiff noted the challenge of balancing student progress with test scores—at the time stating that some students could make progress but miss a test marker, while others could make a test score without making much academic progress.

The district is also pleased that the new guidelines recognize districts that perform well, Schiff said.

“It is also heartening to see that well performing schools are being recognized as such,” he said. “It is to our legislators’ credit that they recognize measuring growth as well as meeting a state test standards is a better way to measure student achievement.

“We welcome this new system,” he added.