Education First

Sad day for our state. But we can change this when we dump CC.

To sum up today's action at the State BOE regarding PARCC testing.

The legislature passes bills and the Governor signs them into law. The various state departments write the regulations that detail how laws will be implemented.

Current NJ regulations say that in order graduate high school, students must complete 120 credits, satisfy attendance requirements, and pass HSPA or AHSA. The DOE wants to change the graduation test requirements.

To change the requirements, the DOE is supposed to follow a prescribed process. A major function of the State Board is the adoption of administrative code that contains the rules for implementing education laws. For new code or major revisions to the code, the following process is applicable:

1. Code is proposed by the Commissioner and introduced for discussion.

2. Proposed code is published in the New Jersey Register.

3. Public input is accepted for 30 to 60 days after publication in the New Jersey Register.

4. Monthly public testimony sessions are held by the State Board.

5. Code is adopted by the State Board after evaluation of input and subsequent revisions.

Two months ago, the State BOE complied with #1 above. Today, the State Board approved #2. After the public comment period ( #3) has concluded, the DOE will schedule a public hearing on the code changes, probably in June ( #4). And if all goes according to plan the State BOE will adopt final graduation regs during the summer ( #5). All of that does not preclude us from speaking about the proposed regs next month, during open public comment, in addition to the upcoming hearing required by #4.

The DOE has gotten itself into trouble with this year's graduating class because it did not follow the process above. Rather, the Commissioner issued a series of memos changing the 2016 graduation requirements. The ACLU and ELC sued the DOE over this action and that case should be concluded soon.

The action today will establish regulations that affect the graduating class of 2017 and beyond.

Especially, If you have children in 7th grade or below, pay close attention and start taking action NOW!!

For anyone who is considering refusing the test. Here is a great tune to listen to.

More Than a Number More Than a Number Thinking of all New York students as they take tests this week. Here is a song that speaks to the truth. Children are...

The Education Race is the New Arms Race.

We need more teachers like this one and not less.

The One Reason I Quit Teaching September means apples, bulletin boards, foliage, name tags, a new class and everything else about going back-to-school! After over thirty years of starting the fall in a classroom, as a student or...

So was this a surprise? For some of our children who didn't waste time taking the test, at least they never were made to feel like failures.

PARCC scores: Most NJ students below grade level in math, English New Jersey on Tuesday released the overall results of its state tests, the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers exams, revealing that more than half of the students in every grade level tested failed to meet expectations in math.

I believe this will continue until PARCC disappears entirely.

N.J. Class of 2019 won't have to pass PARCC to graduate In a memo sent to school superintendents, the Department announced that it would extend the graduation requirements currently in place for seniors, juniors and sophomores to the Class of 2019.