State Board of Education Acts on Numerous Items at April Meeting

At its April monthly meeting, the New Jersey State Board of Education heard updates and acted on the following items:

• Resolution in Recognition of the Month of the Military Child in New Jersey — The State Board passed a resolution recognizing the students of military personnel and their unique needs during the month of April. The resolution encourages school districts to provide support to children of service members as they transition between schools to address their distinct needs and prepare them to graduate as well-rounded citizens. Additionally, the State Board recognized the physical, social and emotional well-being of children in military families is essential to their success and has a direct impact on the resiliency of military families serving the country.
• School Library Month in New Jersey — The State Board recognized the unique contributions of school libraries in providing materials that reflect equity, diversity and inclusion to meet the individual needs, varied interests, abilities, socioeconomic backgrounds and maturity levels of the students they serve. The State Board also recognized that school libraries serve as a point of voluntary access to information and ideas and as a learning laboratory for students as they acquire critical thinking and problem-solving skills that will be needed for their future in a pluralistic society.
• Resolution in Recognition of Better Hearing and Speech Month in New Jersey — The State Board recognized May 2022 as Better Hearing and Speech month. The State Board’s resolution raises awareness about communication disorders and encourages children and families to receive appropriate screenings and evaluations. The resolution also acknowledges the hard work of audiologists, speech-language pathologists, and speech, language, and hearing scientists and the contributions they make that affect the lives of students in New Jersey in remarkable ways.
• 2020-2021 School Performance Reports and Graduation Data Release — The New Jersey Department of Education released school performance and graduation data for 2020-2021. The commissioner of education noted that the Start Strong assessment was used in fall 2021 to satisfy the federal statewide general assessment requirements for English language arts, mathematics and science for the 2020-2021 school year. The NJDOE administered the ACCESS for English Language Learners and Dynamic Learning Maps assessment for special education students in spring 2021.  For PSAT, SAT and ACT, participation was low in 2019-2020, but there was a much bigger drop in 2020-2021. However, while participation dropped, performance on the tests improved. The department also reviewed the results of Advanced Placement testing and Technical Skills Assessments for 2019-2020 and 2020-2021.  In addition, the department reviewed various data trends with the State Board, including chronic absenteeism, student discipline, and graduation rates.Going forward, school report cards will now include data on:
• Data that was missing in 2019-2020 due to COVID-19, which includes DLM and ACCESS for ELLs data, chronic absenteeism and device ratios.
• AP/IB and dual enrollment participation by student group.
•  Work-based learning participation.
• Federal graduation rates (required modification to graduation calculations).
  • Six-year graduation rates.
  • Apprenticeship data.
  • Additional staff data, including staff counts and information about teachers by subject area.
  •  Links to Start Strong results.
  •  Links to opportunity to learn data, including access to devices and internet connectivity and student learning environment.
• Social Emotional Learning Initiatives Update and New Jersey Comprehensive School-Based Mental Health Guide — The commissioner reviewed with the State Board the competencies underlying the state’s work in social-emotional learning for students, including its efforts to develop effective professional development for staff. Allen-McMillan also reviewed with the State Board the department’s work to improve student mental health, noting that each district received federal funds to aid them in their efforts. She told the State Board about the New Jersey School Climate Improvement Platform, which is a pilot program in collaboration with Rutgers University that will help districts make data-informed decisions about school climate.  The commissioner also unveiled a school-based mental health guide that revises, reorganizes and updates a set of resources related to mental health on the department’s webpages.
• Bridge Year Pilot Program — The State Board approved its proposal on the regulations for the Bridge Year Pilot Program. P.L. 2020, c. 41 established a three-year Bridge Year Pilot Program under which each school district with a high school must offer students in the graduating classes of 2021 and 2022 the opportunity to pursue a bridge year during the year immediately following their senior year of high school. The Bridge Year Pilot Program will provide participating students with an additional year to address learning loss and missed opportunities in extracurricular activities, including spring sports programs, due to the circumstances created by the COVID-19 pandemic.
• School Ethics — The State Board continued discussions on updates to the regulations governing school ethics. The proposed readoption with amendments and new rules seeks to ensure and preserve confidence in the integrity of elected and appointed members of a district board of education, members of a board of trustees of a charter school or renaissance school project and school administrators. The proposed amendments and new rules will align with current practices. The New Jersey Department of Education also proposes to specify that the provisions of this chapter apply to renaissance school projects and renaissance school project boards of trustees. The proposed amendments and new rules are a result of grievances that individuals have brought forth and inquiries that district board of education members, members of a board of trustees of a charter school or renaissance school project, or school administrators have presented to the commission for advisement regarding matters related to board governance. The NJSBA gave public testimony about the proposal. NJSBA raised concerns about the updated training timeline for new board members, the due process rights of board members who are adjudicated to have violated the School Ethics Act and board member confidentiality when seeking an advisory opinion, among other issues.