Archives for category: New Jersey
« Older Entries
Newer Entries »

GREAT NEWS from New Jersey SOS: State Court Strikes Down PARCC as Graduation Requirement!

By dianeravitch
December 31, 2018 //
19

This just in from Save Our Schools New Jersey, from its Facebook page:

BREAKING!!! BREAKING!!! BREAKING!!! BREAKING!!!

NJ Appeals Court strikes down NJ’s PARCC-based high school graduation rules!!!

From Education Law Center and ACLUNJ

NJ Appeals Court: “We hold, therefore, that to the extent the [NJDOE] regulations required testing of non-eleventh-grade students, they are contrary to the Act and are invalid.”

NJ Appeals Court: “However, the [NJDOE] regulations violate the Act to the extent they specifically authorize multiple tests administered in grades other than the eleventh grade.”

“the Act compels DOE to provide for alternative methods of assessing proficiency other than through PARCC testing or any other standardized testing process.”

“We hold N.J.A.C. 6A:8-5.1(a)(6),-5.1(f) and -5.1(g) are contrary to the express provisions of the Act because they require administration of more than one graduate proficiency test to students other than those in the eleventh grade, and because the regulations on their face do not permit retesting with the same standardized test to students through the 2020 graduating class. As a result, the regulations as enacted are stricken. To avoid disruption in
any ongoing statewide administration of proficiency examinations, we stay our judgment for thirty days to permit DOE to seek further review in the Supreme Court.”

Full opinion available here: https://www.njcourts.gov/attorneys/assets/opinions/appellate/unpublished/a0768-16.pdf?cacheID=tmUepTY&fbclid=IwAR1ifXkDTOAOuplr8lI6cnVQNncJ9xdkNoER9LkXHjEYPHPwD-pLS7KF9bU

We will post additional information as it becomes available.
Happy New Year!!

THANKS TO THE EDUCATION LAW CENTER FOR FIGHTING AND WINNING THIS CASE.

Standardized tests should never be used as a graduation requirement as they are based on a bell curve and those at the bottom of the bell curve will always fail, and they will always be the most disadvantaged students.

New Jersey is one of only six states that still uses PARCC. This test has standards more rigorous than NAEP. It is designed to fail most students. DUMP PARCC!

Categories Accountability, New Jersey, Resistance, Testing

New Jersey Court Throws Out Effort to Kill Tenure

By dianeravitch
December 12, 2018 //
17

Campbell Brown’s war on teacher tenure lost another battle in court. Her group, the Partnership for Educational Justice, lost the Vergara case in California; its case in Minnesota was thrown out. Now New Jersey.

From the Education Law Center:

December 12, 2018

• CHALLENGE TO TEACHER TENURE IN NEW JERSEY FAILS AGAIN

NEW JERSEY SUPREME COURT ENDS CHALLENGE TO TENURE LAWS

The New Jersey Supreme Court has declined to review an appeals court ruling dismissing a lawsuit seeking invalidation of tenure and due process rules for the state’s teachers.

The plaintiffs in the case, H.G. v. Harrington, are several Newark Public Schools (NPS) students and parents. The plaintiffs were supported by the Partnership for Educational Justice, a group formed by former television news anchor Campbell Brown, who is behind similar lawsuits about teacher tenure laws in Minnesota and New York.

The plaintiffs challenged the statutory rule mandating that “reduction in force” (RIF) decisions be based exclusively on seniority, claiming that the rule deprives students of a “thorough and efficient” education by reducing teacher quality. The plaintiffs filed the case despite admitting there was no evidence that the seniority rule actually resulted in the retention of ineffective tenured teachers at the expense of losing effective tenured teachers.

Because plaintiffs presented no evidence of any actual impact of the seniority rule on the teaching force in Newark, a trial court dismissed the case in May 2017, holding that the case was not ripe for review. The appellate court affirmed that decision in June 2018. The appellate court noted that not only did the plaintiffs concede there was no evidence of any negative impact of the seniority rule, they also admitted NPS had significantly reduced the number of tenured teachers rated ineffective or partially effective.

Despite these decisive rulings, the plaintiffs sought certification to appeal to the New Jersey Supreme Court. On December 3, the Supreme Court denied the request and ruled that the plaintiffs must pay for the cost of filing the appeal request.

This decision is another court defeat for so called “education reform” groups seeking to attack due process for teachers. Courts in California and Minnesota also rejected legal attacks on teacher tenure in those states.

Education Law Center Press Contact:
Sharon Krengel
Policy and Outreach Director
skrengel@edlawcenter.org
973-624-1815, x 24
http://www.edlawcenter.org

Categories Education Reform, New Jersey, Teacher Tenure

Education Law Center Calls for End to State Takeovers in New Jersey

By dianeravitch
December 7, 2018 //
8

State Takeovers of districts with low scores have been a disaster. The reason for low scores is always high poverty, and the state takeover doesn’t change that fact. State after state has adopted this strategy and failed. Turns out that the folks in the State Education Department are not magicians.

The Education Law Center, a civil rights group, calls for an end to the charade in New Jersey.

TIME TO END STATE DISTRICT TAKEOVER IN NEW JERSEY

In testimony before the Joint Committee on the Public Schools, Education Law Center reissued its call for the New Jersey Legislature to move quickly to repeal the provisions in the district monitoring law – the Quality Single Accountability Continuum or “QSAC” – authorizing State takeover of the operation of local school districts. ELC presented the testimony at a December 4 hearing of the Joint Committee soliciting input from the New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) and other stakeholders on recommendations for making implementation of the QSAC law more effective.

“State takeover has proven to be a failed strategy for improving the performance of districts identified as needing assistance through QSAC, New Jersey’s school district monitoring mechanism,” said David Sciarra, ELC Executive Director. “It also disenfranchises communities from crucial decisions affecting their schools and has been misused by prior administrations to promote so-called ‘education reform.’ It’s time to bring this sad chapter to an end.”

Before the Joint Committee, ELC noted that the district takeover provisions were incorporated into the QSAC monitoring law in 2005 to facilitate withdrawal of State-operation of the Newark, Paterson and Jersey City districts as quickly as possible. However, instead of exiting these districts as the Legislature intended, the State, under former Governor Chris Christie, refused to return them to local control and engineered the takeover of a fourth high poverty, racially isolated district – Camden. Under Governor Christie’s direction, the State then moved aggressively to close and replace district schools in the State-operated districts through the rapid expansion of charter schools.

In addition to ending State district takeover, ELC also recommended removing the curriculum and instruction component from the QSAC monitoring regime. ELC emphasized to the Joint Committee that QSAC is a mechanism to monitor compliance with basic district functions, such as fiscal, budget, governance and personnel. However, QSAC has proven ineffective as a strategy to support improvements in curriculum and instruction in schools designated as low performing.

ELC further noted that the identification of under-performing schools and requirements for State intervention to improve curriculum, instruction, professional development, student supports and other crucial issues are mandated separately under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). To implement ESSA, the NJDOE has separate rules for intervention in low performing schools, along with regulations mandating targeted resources and initiatives in districts classified as “high need.”

“The curriculum and instruction component of QSAC monitoring layers on top of federal school improvement requirements unattainable, test-based, performance benchmarks for districts, without any accompanying assistance,” said Mr. Sciarra. “From over a decade of experience, it’s now clear that QSAC monitoring does not support, but instead impedes, the intense focus required to bring about improvement and positive change in low performing schools in need of assistance from the NJDOE.”

ELC also recommended that the Joint Committee thoroughly examine the NJDOE’s role in improving curriculum and instruction in low performing schools and the Department’s capacity to bring strong leadership and quality technical assistance and support to these schools. Past efforts to provide such assistance, including the now defunct NJDOE Regional Achievement Centers (RACs), showed the Department lacks sufficient funding, resources and personnel to work collaboratively with principals, teachers and parents in sustained school improvement efforts.

QSAC is useful as a monitoring tool to periodically gauge district compliance with basic fiscal, governance and personnel requirements. But it does little to help districts improve curriculum, instruction and outcomes for students in their schools. ELC is calling for lawmakers to streamline the QSAC monitoring framework and shift its oversight responsibilities to ensure the NJDOE has the capacity to deliver high quality and timely assistance to schools in need of support.

Education Law Center Press Contact:
Sharon Krengel
Policy and Outreach Director
skrengel@edlawcenter.org
973-624-1815, x 24

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Education Industry, New Jersey, Privatization

Paymon Rouhanifard: I Was Wrong About Standardized Testing and Accountability

By dianeravitch
November 26, 2018 //
104

Payman Rouhanifard was in charge of Joel Klein’s “Office of Portfolio Management” in New York City. He was appointed as superintendent of schools in Camden, New Jersey, by Chris Christie. He arrived in Camden as a “devout believer” in testing, data-based decision making, and accountability. Before he stepped down last June he had a change of mind. He began to see that the schools had turned testing into both means and end, and that testing had crowded out the arts, science, foreign languages, and Global Studies. His reflections are fascinating, as he shows the capacity to examine his beliefs and change them.

Here is the speech he delivered at MIT a few weeks ago.

I urge you to read it.

He is a reformed reformer. I question his view that we need to have standardized tests for chemistry, physics, and the arts. He thinks that may be the only way to balance the curriculum and restore what has been sacrificed to the gods of testing, but I don’t agree.

There is much good sense here. I admire anyone who is willing to do the hard work of rethinking their views. It is not easy. Unlike me, he doesn’t seem to have alienated his friends in the Reform movement. Many of them are also beginning to be disenchanted with standardized testing.

I certainly applaud his conclusion that any reform should be gauged by the measure of “would I do this to my own children?”

Categories Accountability, Education Industry, New Jersey, Standardized Testing, Testing

New Jersey Hits the “Pause” Button on New Charter Schools

By dianeravitch
October 6, 2018 //
11

After the free-for-all expansion of charter schools in New Jersey during the Chris Christie administration, it is clear there is a new sheriff in town.

The State Commissioner of Education Lamont Repollet has turned down every charter application, saying that time is needed for the state to review the 20-year-old law and figure out how many new charters are needed.

No big surprise, Gov. Phil Murphy’s promise of a “timeout” on new charter schools is coming to fruition, with the Murphy administration rejecting two more charter schools that had been hoping to open next year.

State Education Commissioner Lamont Repollet on Friday informed the last two finalists in the current cycle — which would have opened next year, if successful — that their applications had been denied.

It was the first time in at least a decade that the state has rejected every charter school bid in a cycle, and this time without even interviewing the applicants, according to charter-school advocates.

With five other expansions also rejected last spring, just one new charter is now slated to open next year.

The charter industry, as is now customary, responded with rending of the clothes and wailing about the “35,000” on the waiting list for charters. The waiting list is usually a myth, composed of students who applied to multiple charters, students who applied and were accepted, students who applied and returned to public schools, and non-existent students. These lists are never audited. You just have to take the word of the charter lobbyists.

Governor Phil Murphy is calling for a time-out that is much needed. He wants to review the process for granting charters. He might also have professionals audit that waiting list and decide whether the state needs a dual system of schools, one that accepts everyone, and the other that chooses its students and kicks out those it doesn’t want.

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, New Jersey, Privatization

New Jersey: Civil Rights Complaint about Newark Charter School

By dianeravitch
September 13, 2018 //
10

ELC CALLS FOR INVESTIGATION OF EXCLUSION OF STUDENTS FROM NEWARK CHARTER SCHOOL

Education Law Center has filed an official complaint with the NJ Department of Education (NJDOE) regarding the recent exclusion of students from Marion P. Thomas Charter School (MPTCS) in Newark. As depicted in videos and news articles, MPTCS excluded dozens of students at the opening of school for non-compliance with the school’s uniform policy. The school also did not notify parents that their children could not attend school, resulting in students congregating in a neighborhood park without supervision.

The ELC complaint explains that MPTCS’s exclusion of students for minor infractions of the school’s uniform policy raises legal violations requiring NJDOE investigation. The complaint is based on reports from parents, including allegations that MPTCS falsely accused one parent of failing to submit residency documentation after her son was featured in one of the videos of the incident. Other parents reported having to expend time and money to buy new shoes conforming to the MPTCS uniform to prevent their children from losing more time in school, even though they were excluded for wearing the exact same shoes deemed appropriate attire the year before.

The complaint asks the NJDOE to investigate the incident and take corrective action, including a thorough review of the school’s uniform policy and whether MPTCS enforcement of the policy is fair and legal. The complaint also asks the NJDOE to conduct training of MPTCS staff to prevent future recurrences and for disciplinary action, if necessary, to be taken against the school and school staff responsible for any violations of student and parental rights. Finally, the complaint asks for recourse for the families, including reimbursement for double expenditures and any necessary corrections to student records.

“It is obvious that these students believed they were in compliance with the school’s uniform policy, because they wore similar or even the exact same shoes last year,” said ELC Legal Fellow Richard Frost. “Excluding these students without notifying parents was an extreme, poorly reasoned, and unlawful punishment for what should never have become a discipline issue in the first place.”

Education Law Center Press Contact:
Sharon Krengel
Policy and Outreach Director
skrengel@edlawcenter.org
973-624-1815, x 24

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Civil Rights, Discipline, Education Industry, New Jersey, Newark, Privatization

Jersey Jazzman Defends New Jersey’s Decision to Reduce PARCC Testing to Only 5% of Teachers’ Ratings

By dianeravitch
September 12, 2018 //
16

Mark Weber aka blogger Jersey Jazzman is a veteran teacher and a doctoral candidate at Rutgers University.

He wrote an open letter to a state senator in New Jersey who was angry that Governor Phil Murphy reduced the stakes attached to PARCC testing in relation to teacher evaluation.

State Senator Ruiz mistakenly believes that evaluating teachers by test scores is sound practice. She is wrong.

Weber reviewed the research demonstrating the invalidity of such measures.

By the way, New Jersey is one of the very few states that still mandates the PARCC tests. It originally was offered by 24 states. Only six states and DC still are in that small group.

You might find this to be a valuable resource for understanding why it makes no sense to evaluate teachers by the test scores of their students.

Categories Accountability, New Jersey, Standardized Testing, Teacher Evaluations, VAM (value-added modeling)

Newark: Charter School Network Accused of Disproportionate Suspensions of Students with Disabilities

By dianeravitch
September 10, 2018 //
9

No excuses!

Newark’s largest charter-school network suspends students with disabilities at a disproportionately high rate, violating their rights, according to a new complaint filed with the state.

The complaint alleges that North Star Academy gave suspensions to 29 percent of students with disabilities during the 2016-17 school year. The network disputes the complaint’s allegations and says the actual figure was 22 percent.

North Star removed students with disabilities from their classrooms for disciplinary reasons, including suspensions and expulsions, 269 times that school year, according to the complaint filed by an attorney at the Education & Health Law Clinic at Rutgers Law School in Newark. The complaint is based on state data and reports by parents who contacted the clinic.

Those numbers stand in sharp contrast to ones at Newark Public Schools, where students with disabilities were sent out for disciplinary reasons just 87 times that school year, according to state data. Overall, just 1.3 percent of special-education students and 1.1 percent of all students were suspended in 2016-17, according to the attorney’s analysis of state data. Excluding North Star, the city’s charter schools together suspended about 9 percent of students with disabilities, the analysis found…

North Star is part of the Uncommon Schools network — one of several large charter-school organizations whose reliance on strict discipline and demanding academics is sometimes called “no excuses.” Some of the schools have softened their discipline policies in recent years, but others have held firm, insisting that their no-nonsense approach to misbehavior creates a safe, orderly environment where students can focus on academics.

According to the complaint, North Star continues to take an exacting approach to managing behavior. Each week, students receive behavior points in the form of “paychecks.” They can lose points for even minor infractions, such as not paying attention in class or violating the school-uniform code. If their points dip below a certain level, they can be sent to detention or suspended, the complaint says.

The complaint alleges that some students with disabilities struggle to follow the rules, and wind up being punished at a higher rate than non-disabled students. Federal data from the 2014-15 school year appear to support that claim. In that year, students with disabilities made up 7.2 percent of North Star’s enrollment, yet they received 16.5 percent of in-school suspensions and 12.9 percent of out-of-school suspensions, according to data compiled by the U.S. Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights

Categories Charter Schools, Discipline and Suspensions, Education Industry, Education Reform, Environment, Joy, New Jersey, Newark, Special Education

Newark: Charter School Kicks Out Students for Dress Code Violations

By dianeravitch
September 2, 2018 //
16

The Marion P. Thomas Charter High School kicked out students for minor dress code violations.

Strangely, the story about the expulsions appeared in an Atlanta newspaper, not a New Jersey one.

The students are all African American, as is the staff. It is a segregated school.

“Video uploaded to Facebook shows several Marion P. Thomas Charter High School students hanging out at a public park in their school uniforms after they say they were booted from school over dress code violations. One teen explained he was kicked out simply for having white soles on his shoes…

“It wasn’t just the handful of students at the park who were kicked out, however. Students claim more than half the school was sent home for the alleged violations. Concerned, the man, who describes himself as a youth worker, marched over to the school to confront the staff about their so-called punishment.

“In video of the incident, the man is heard questioning school officials about why so many kids were kicked out into the streets for something so arbitrary as not having a belt or all-black sneakers. A front desk receptionist explains the students were told go home and get the items, and then return to school.

“This is crazy. … Get those things from where? What if they don’t have it?” the man asked. “I’m at the park working with kids, and I see like 50 children walk into the park saying they can’t get into school because they don’t have all-black shoes. I have a problem.”

“That’s saying that because they’re poor, you can treat them like this,” he said of the kids, whom he described as “his scholars.” “You will not do this.”

“Things quickly escalate as the man repeatedly demands to speak to the principal or someone else in charge. He then criticizes school staff, which is all Black, for willingly kicking African-American students out of class over simple dress code violations.

“Y’all are too calm!” he shouts. “It’s all Black people in here and y’all kick Black kids out into the street. What if one of them gets hurt in the park? It’s homeless people sleeping in there. Why are are all these kids in the street?! You are culpable!”

“The man, visibly frustrated, continues asking for who’s in charge of making the dress code policy. That’s when leaders ask him who his scholar is, suggesting he needs to have a child who attends the school in order to make a complaint.“

After the fallout from the video of the incident, the school said it was implementing a new process for dress code violations but did not say what it would be.

Categories Charter Schools, Discipline, Education Reform, New Jersey, Newark

Good News! New Jersey Trashes VAM!

By dianeravitch
September 1, 2018 //
33

Good news! The Governor of New Jersey, Phil Murphy, and the State Commissioner, Lamont Repollet, slashed the stakes attached to PARCC testing. Until now, 30% of a teacher’s evaluation was tied to test scores on the Common Core PARCC Test. The governor and Commissioner just dropped it to 5%.

The practice of evaluating teachers by student test scores was heavily promoted by Arne Duncan and Race to the Top. It has been widely discredited by scholarly organizations like the American Statistical Association. It remains on the books in many states as a dead vestige of the past, a zombie policy that has never worked but never died.

New Jersey drove a stake in its icy heart.

“New Jersey Commissioner of Education Dr. Lamont Repollet today announced that PARCC scores will account for only five percent of a teacher’s evaluation in New Jersey next year, down from the damaging 30 percent figure mandated by his predecessors. State law continues to require that standardized test scores play some role in teacher evaluation despite the lack of any evidence that they serve a valid purpose. In fact, researchers caution against using the scores for high-stakes decisions such as teacher evaluation. By cutting the weight given to the scores to near the bare minimum, the Department of Education and the Murphy administration have shown their respect for the research. The move also demonstrates respect for the experience and expertise of parents and educators who have long maintained that PARCC—or the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers—is an intrusive, harmful test that disrupts learning and does not adequately measure student learning or teacher effectiveness.

“Today’s announcement is another step by Gov. Murphy toward keeping a campaign promise to rid New Jersey’s public schools of the scourge of high-stakes testing. While tens of thousands of families across the state have already refused to subject their children to PARCC, schools are still required to administer it and educators are still subject to its arbitrary effects on their evaluation. By dramatically lowering the stakes for the test, Murphy is making it possible for educators and students alike to focus more time and attention on real teaching and learning.

“NJEA President Marie Blistan praised Gov. Murphy and Commissioner Repollet for putting the well-being of students first and for trusting parents and educators. “Governor Murphy showed that he trusts parents and educators when it comes to what’s best for students. By turning down the pressure of PARCC, he has removed a major obstacle to quality teaching and learning in New Jersey. NJEA members are highly qualified professionals who do amazing work for students every day. This decision frees us to focus on what really matters…”

“While the move to dramatically reduce the weight of PARCC in teacher evaluation is a big win for families and educators alike, it is only the first step toward ultimately eliminating PARCC and replacing it with less intrusive, more helpful ways of measuring student learning. New Jersey’s public schools are consistently rated among the very best in the nation, a position they have held for many years. Despite that, New Jersey students and educators are among the last anywhere still burdened by this failed five-year PARCC experiment. By moving away from PARCC, New Jersey’s public education community will once again be free to focus on the innovative efforts that have long served students so well.”

Categories Accountability, Duncan, Arne, New Jersey, Race to the Top, Teacher Evaluations, VAM
« Older Entries
Newer Entries »