Schools
in Need of Improvement in New Jersey:
What You Can Do to Ensure that Your Child is Not “Left Behind”!
Schools in
Need of Improvement in New Jersey
New
Jersey's List of Approved Supplemental Services Providers
under the No Child Left Behind Act
Supplemental
Services Guide
For
more information on the No Child Left Behind Act,
visit the US Department of Education's website at:
www.nochildleftbehind.gov
or
the National Network of Partnership Schools website at:
http://www.csos.jhu.edu/p2000/nochild.htm
Under the No Child Left Behind
Act of 2001, the State of New Jersey was required to identify schools
in need of improvement. So called
Category I Schools are those that have
been identified as schools in need of improvement, based on their lack of
adequate yearly progress toward achieving state standards on the state tests
for the 4th and 8th grades, the Elementary School
Performance Assessment (ESPA) and the Grade Eight Performance Assessment (GEPA).
In New Jersey, 300 schools, or 15.65 percent of the state’s schools,
were identified in this category. See
the attached for the schools listed as need in improvement by the New Jersey
Department Education.
Schools
identified as needing improvement must:
1.
Develop improvement
plans showing the programs and strategies to be adopted to improve teaching
and learning. Members of the school community – including parents – should
be included in the development of this improvement plan.
ACTION:
Ask you school principal for a copy of the plan and a list of the
persons involved in putting the plan together.
2.
Provide school staff
with professional development to improve their skills.
ACTION:
The school improvement plan should include specific plans for staff
training to address identified areas of instructional needs of the students.
3.
Provide parents of
students enrolled in a school in need of improvement with the opportunity to
transfer to another school in the district that is not identified for
improvement.
ACTION:
As a parent in the school, did you receive a letter stating that you
had the right to transfer your student to another school?
Did you request a transfer? Was
your request for a transfer approved? If
your answer to any of these questions is no, contact SPAN at 1-800-654-SPAN to
find out what you can do!
4.
Provide parents of
students enrolled in a school in need of improvement with the opportunity to
obtain supplementary education services, like after school tutoring or summer
school, from programs outside of the school.
ACTION:
As a parent in the school, did you receive a letter letting you know
that supplemental services were available to your student and how you can go
about getting those services? If
not, please write a letter to:
Honorable Lucille Davy
Commissioner
New Jersey Department of Education
P.O. Box 500
Trenton, NJ 08625-0500 |
Debra A. Jennings
Executive Co-Director
Statewide Parent Advocacy Network
35 Halsey Street
Newark, NJ 07102 |