Brave
new world in state monitoring of school
districts
Thursday, March 02, 2006 • BY
JOHN MOONEY • Star-Ledger Staff
New Jersey's public school districts are
soon to face their own annual evaluations, complete with
number grades for everything from local board policies and
public involvement to budget controls and test
scores.
And like with the students they teach,
the stakes for the districts could be meaningful, with
anything less than the equivalent of a "B" prompting a visit
from the state.
Failing grades could lead to fuller state
intervention. And conversely, New Jersey's three largest
districts -- Newark, Jersey City and Paterson -- could find
in the process an exit strategy out of more than a decade of
state control.
The new state monitoring process was the
subject of lengthy discussion of the state Board of
Education yesterday, as it began crafting the regulations
that will drive the new procedures.
Called the "Quality Single Accountability
Continuum," the annual reviews of each district will replace
the seven-year monitoring that is now in place for schools
and instead be aimed more at providing immediate help to
districts in need, officials said.
"It's a whole paradigm shift to what
monitoring is all about, and what the role of the department
and how we interact with districts," said acting Education
Commissioner Lucille Davy yesterday.
"We're really not intending to come in
with a hammer from Day One," she said. "It is really an
opportunity to find ways for improvement."
But before it is to be phased into the
600-plus districts next fall, the state board and department
staff must work out the sticky details to what counts for
how much in evaluating a school system.
Yesterday, the board got its first look
at more than 140 criteria proposed by the department for
gauging a district's performance in the areas of fiscal
management, governance and operations. Two other areas not
yet discussed were instruction and personnel.
But as evidenced by the many questions
raised by board members, a statistics background would have
helped in understanding each checklist and the corresponding
points that come with the requirements.
For instance, in a district's operations
checklist, it would receive four points for having approved
security plans in place. The district will get just a point
for maintaining at least a 90 percent student attendance
rate.
Through the grading system, districts
that meet at least 80 percent of the criteria in each of
five checklists -- the report card equivalent of a B-minus
-- would pass the monitoring for the year.
Those between 50-80 percent will see
follow-up by state teams and be required to develop
improvement plans for the areas in which they are falling
short. And those below 50 percent could see full
intervention, up to state-appointed superintendents or
school board members.
Still early in an approval process that
will surely take months, state board members questioned, for
instance, the yes-no nature of the checklists and whether
districts can find some middle ground.
"It's not always whether you do
something, but how you do it," said board president Arnold
Hyndman. "Some of these things are subjective and some of
them objective, and we need to get at that
balance."
Questions were also raised to how the
state will ensure the validity of the results. The vast
majority of districts will conduct their own
self-evaluations as the first step in the process, with the
state then confirming the answers. But state officials
conceded the cash-strapped department will be hard-pressed
to complete the task.
"Frankly, it will likely mean a
reorganization of the staff and what it does now," said
Davy. "It's pretty clear that statewide, there is not going
to be a lot of new hiring."
What this means for the three takeover
districts remains unclear. Just as QSAC will dictate how the
state intervenes in a district, it will also provide the
road map for ending its intervention as a district meets the
requirements.
But state officials yesterday were
hesitant to say how any of the three districts will fare
without the process yet in place.
"It is clear when you look around at the
three of them that there are certainly improvements and
gains, but we can't say today what that is going to
translate to," Davy said. "It's too early to know
that."
John Mooney covers education. He may be reached at
jmooney@starledger.com, or 973-392-1548.
© 2006 The Star-Ledger. Used by NJ.com with
permission.
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