District and School Graduation Rates, Reinforcing Need for New Graduation Requirements

Christie Administration Releases District and School Graduation Rates, Reinforcing Need for New Graduation Requirements

Trenton, NJ - Reinforcing the need for new graduation requirements not only to increase the number of high school graduates but to ensure that students who do graduate from high school are college and career ready, the Christie Administration today released district and school graduation rates along with graduate pathway information. "As we look at these new graduation rates across the state, the question we must continue to ask ourselves is not only whether students are graduating from high school, but whether we are truly preparing them to be ready for the demands of the 21st century. These results reinforce the need for the new end-of-course assessments not only to increase the number of high school graduates, but to increase the number of graduates ready for college and career," said Acting Commissioner Chris Cerf. "We should approach these results with both confidence and humility - we continue to be among the leaders in the nation, but we can still do more to make sure every child, regardless of zip code, has an equal opportunity in life." 

District and state level graduation rates: http://www.state.nj.us/education/data/grate/11rates.pdf
Graduate pathway information: http://www.state.nj.us/education/data/grate/11type.pdf
Release is here: http://www.state.nj.us/education/news/2012/0501grad.htm

EPSD Re-organization Meeting: President, VP, NJSBA Delegate Appointed

Englewood Residents: Please be aware of the fact that the 

new board of education members will be sworn in tomorrow 

before the public at 6:30pm @Grieco School. It is the 

re-

organization of the Englewood board of education. They

 vote in the president and vice president. They are also 

supposed to appoint a Delegate to the New Jersey School 

Boards Association. The last item is not on the agenda. It is 

mandated by law. If they do not appoint a Delegate to the

 

NJSBA we will continue to circulate the petition to be sent to

the Acting Commissioner. We have a paper one in the

Community with many more signatures than the one online

at Congress.org. Sign the one at the bottom of the page. 

We will become active after tonight, if no Delegate is 

appointed. 

It is a contract year and they need the aid of the NJSBA in 

order to negotiate a contract for the teachers. Another 

thing, each school board member is supposed to get 

refresher training every year at the NJSBA. Successful 

school boards not only participate with the New Jersey 

School Boards Association, they participate with the Bergen 

County School Boards Association.

$500,000.00 Available for New Principal Evaluation Pilot

Christie Administration Continues Focus on Effective Educators with New Principal Evaluation Pilot Program $500,000 in Funding Available for 10-District Pilot to shape new evaluation system in 2012-13

School Year Trenton, N J - Furthering the goal of ensuring schools and students are being served by highly effective educators, the Christie Administration announced today a competitive grant opportunity for approximately 10 districts or charter schools to pilot a new principal evaluation system in the 2012-13 school year.

This new system, which builds on the existing Excellent Educators for New Jersey teacher evaluation pilot program, will help all principals to continuously improve their practice with a meaningful and objective system of evaluations. The $500,000 available for this pilot will be drawn from the state's $38 million Race to the Top 3 award received in December 2011.

 The goal of an improved principal evaluation system is to allow district administrators to better measure principal effectiveness, differentiate between those who are excelling and those who need support, and provide meaningful feedback in order to help all principals continuously improve. Through this pilot, principals and administrators in participating districts will provide critical input and feedback to help shape the system that will be rolled out state-wide.

"There is no more important investment we can make from the state level than to ensure that we have the highest-quality principals and teachers working with our students on a day-to-day basis," said Acting Commissioner Chris Cerf. "Partnered with the ongoing development of our teacher evaluation system, this new principal evaluation pilot is a crucial next step to help all of our educators continuously improve their practice with the goal of ensuring that all of our students graduate from high school ready for college and career."

The principal evaluation pilot is an extension of the Excellent Educators for New Jersey (EE4NJ) teacher evaluation pilot program launched in September 2011 that is currently underway in 11 districts and 19 School Improvement Grant (SIG) schools this year. In 2011, the New Jersey Educator Effectiveness Task Force recommended that Governor Christie develop a new teacher and principal evaluation system in order to ensure that New Jersey has the highest quality educators in the country.

For more information: http://www.state.nj.us/education/news/2012/0419ngo.htm

New Statewide Accountability System: Dwight Morrow High School Is Designated a Focus School

Christie Administration Moves Forward to Turn Around Lowest-Performing Schools in the State, Provide Targeted Support for Improvement, and to Reward Successful Schools
Department announces final list of Priority, Focus, and Reward Schools as part of state's new accountability system

There is now HOPE!

Trenton, NJ - The Christie Administration today announced the final list of Priority, Focus, and Reward Schools as part of its new statewide accountability system developed through flexibility from No Child Left Behind (NCLB).

The Department of Education will invest heavily in the state's lowest-performing schools (Priority Schools) and provide targeted supports to schools with specific achievement concerns (Focus Schools) to ensure all students are on track for college and career readiness. For the first time, these school designations were developed by taking into account both growth and absolute proficiency to provide a more complete picture of school performance and the needs of individual schools.

 "We are entering a new age of school accountability in New Jersey, one that frees high-performing schools from state interference and defines a stronger investment from the state to turn around pockets of persistent academic failure," said Acting Commissioner Chris Cerf. "No longer can we stand on the sidelines when our schools are not preparing students in New Jersey to graduate from high school ready for college and a career. There is a moral imperative for the state to take a stronger role in persistently failing schools and to work collaboratively with communities and districts to give all students a fair chance."

For complete information: http://www.state.nj.us/education/news/2012/0411rac.htm

Englewood Residents, please follow this link http://www.state.nj.us/education/reform/PFRschools/Priority-Focus-RewardSchools.pdf
Now that it is official that we are a focus school, perhaps we may pick up the pieces and fix the
problem. There is a lot of work to be done. The smoke has cleared and we can no longer linger in denial.

Meet the Candidates: Prepare your Questions Ahead of Time

Listed below are the opportunities you have to meet and question the candidates for the Board of Education. Find out where the candidates stand on issues that will shape the lives of our children for years to come.
April 12, 2012  League of Women Voters - 7:00 
@ The Public Safety Complex on Van Brunt St. Courthouse building
April 15, 2012 NAACP Meet the Candidates @Community Baptist Church  3:30 - 4:45pm
April 16, 2012 PTO Council Meet the Candidates....7:30 @ McCloud School, Tenafly Rd., Durie Avenue across the street from Winton White Stadium
Questions:

• Find out how each Candidate feels about the threat to Outsource nurses, child study teams, secretaries, aides, substitutes, paraprofessionals
• Assistant Principal for McCloud School
• Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum & Instruction
• Find out if the candidates are willing to learn the law and to abide by it
• A Real Attendance Officer (We are not Bergen Academy) Parent Liaisons are not sufficient here.
• What is really going on at St. Cecilia's. How many students and classrooms are we really using?
• When will the public find out what changes were made beneath Winton White Stadium and why these changes were made?
• Why is the Board of Education trying to build Pritchard a Maintenance Garage/office building in the flood hazard area adjacent to the Little League Field on Durie Ave.?
• Why are we being told that the high school is falling apart plagued by violence while the supporting documents submitted to the state with the budget paints a totally different picture?
• When will EPSD have curriculum in all subject areas?

How do you find out if your polling place has changed? Read your sample ballot that is delivered with your mail.

• Find your street on this list
• Identify your ward and district to the right of the street name
• Using your ward and district find your polling place on this list.

                   How are the children?