Faced with rising demand for information about early childhood programs, states need to find tools and strategies to monitor the progress of and to identify high-quality early childhood programs. In response, REL Mid-Atlantic convened a regional workgroup for state personnel who work with the systems containing early childhood data. The workgroup…

New Jersey's Higher Education Restructuring Act of 1994 expands and codifies certain authorities of trustee boards, creates a statewide coordinating board called the New Jersey Commission on Higher Education, and creates the Presidents' Council which consists of the presidents of the 46 institutions of higher education which receive state funding.…

This paper analyzes mastery learning as an alternative to curriculum planning and discusses implementation of the strategy in a prekindergarten through eighth-grade school district in Red Bank, New Jersey. The paper briefly describes district schools and circumstances affecting the school board's decision to implement mastery learning; discusses…

Research for Better Schools, Inc., has been working with local education agencies (LEAs), intermediate service agencies (ISAs), and state education agencies (SEAs) to bring about career education impact in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware. Their strategy includes three essential elements: assist LEAs in planning and implementing career…

The study focused on individual high school seniors and their high school programs; school, work, and life values; educational and occupational goals; and decision-making criteria for postsecondary plans. The project, based on the 1972 National Longitudinal Study, had three components: field testing, the base year survey, and follow-up survey.…

A multi-dimensional needs assessment model has been developed to provide a research tool for the review of statewide curriculum needs in vocational education. The model provides for an integrated review of selected demographic, educational, and decision-making data to target vocational education program areas and occupational titles for additional…

Educational changes implemented at Hunterdon Central Regional High School (New Jersey), based on a technical model that stresses mastery learning and is facilitated by a customized instructional technology, are described in this paper. A two-pronged strategy involves the formation of site-based management teams and a technology review committee.…

In 1983, New Jersey's governor, Tom Keane, proposed the Alternative Path to Certification as a means to alleviate the state's growing teacher shortage. At least 12 other states are now using similar plans to recruit teachers possessing liberal arts bachelor's degrees who have passed a standardized test and completed successfully a one-year…

Sixteen New Jersey school districts located in four counties were selected to field test a generic educational planning system. The pilot program was to "ascertain where changes in guidelines, procedures, policy program, or resources were needed." The second major goal of the pilot program was to produce information for those districts…

Educators in New Jersey who had joined forces as the New Jersey Consortium for Global Education in order to submit a joint Title-IV C global education proposal with the New Jersey Department of Education experienced two major conflicts when their project was funded. The first conflict involved a difference of perception on the nature and role of…

The speaker concentrates on the effects of statewide accountability implementation on school system management and on the state's delivery of educational services. In discussing the need to link accountability systems with existing organizational systems, the speaker spends the majority of his time examining how the New Jersey efforts relate to…

In March 1977, the New Jersey Board of Higher Education created the New Jersey Basic Skills Assessment Program. To direct the program, the Board created the Basic Skills Council, which was charged with developing a test in reading, writing, and mathematics for all freshmen entering all New Jersey public colleges and universities. The purpose was…

These three papers were delivered as part of a conference panel that was intended to alert advisory councils to the precarious situation of vocational education in the United States today. The first paper, "Crisis Issues in Vocational Education and Training" by Charles R. Doty, makes a case for establishing a program to finance full-time…

A discussion of the role of court interpreters looks at the need for competent interpreters, the kinds and demands of court interpretation, and New Jersey's leadership in recognizing the necessity for court interpretation. Demographic and legal reasons for providing interpreters in today's courts are outlined. Three court interpreting functions…

In 1991, the New Jersey Board of Higher Education's College Outcomes Evaluation Program (COEP) was canceled due to lack of state funding. Despite the cancellation, 17 community colleges formed the New Jersey County College Project on General Education to develop goals, objectives, and assessment criteria for general education. The Project grounds…