This report represents the work of New Jersey's Evaluation Pilot Advisory Committee (EPAC) from 2011-2013. The EPAC Interim Report, published in February 2013, summarized the establishment of the EPAC, key lessons learned from the 2011-12 teacher evaluation pilot, and recommendations for statewide roll-out of a more effective educator evaluation…

New Jersey is preparing to implement a statewide educator evaluation system in the 2013-14 school year. As part of this process, an Evaluation Pilot Advisory Committee (EPAC) was convened in September 2011. The EPAC consisted of 22 appointed members from various stakeholder groups. Its charge was to make recommendations to the New Jersey…

This paper describes New Jersey's efforts to measure the performance of local school districts, efforts which include developing indicators of success and monitoring guidelines and certification standards. Specifically, this report compares and contrasts the ways in which local districts responded to being placed in "Level III"--a…

This report summarizes information about Family Life Education (FLE) as mandated by the New Jersey Board of Education. The information is taken from a variety of sources and three principal concerns of the state board are analyzed: (1) the status of implementation of family life education; (2) local district perceptions of training needs; and (3)…

A 1983 New Jersey law requires the commissioner of education to monitor the incidence of violence, vandalism, and substance abuse in the state's public schools. This report summarizes the incident reports for the 1987-88 school year and makes comparisons with prior years (1984-1987). The data collected identify neither causes nor specifics as to…

This study investigated factors impinging upon the successful implementation of reform in New Jersey's special needs or Abbott districts. Surveys of 28 Abbott districts examined the extent to which districts embraced remedial measures in the Supreme Court's rulings; perceived compatibility between remedial measures embodied in the reform and prior…

Summarizes recent state initiatives in values education, highlighting actions in Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and California, that promote values education programs and policies. Legislatures, typically, have chosen personnel to promote moral education, or have passed resolutions, or added language to existing codes regarding the necessity of…

Focuses on the legal framework that New Jersey has established that allows the state to assume responsibility for operating a school district that has been deemed unable or unwilling to meet minimum educational standards. Identifies some perceived deficiencies in the law and suggests some possible future directions. (71 footnotes) (MLF)

Legislation enacted in 1978 and 1982 in New Jersey stipulated that a uniform recordkeeping system be established to gather information on reported offenses against persons, school buildings, and property. This report details the extent of violence and vandalism in the public schools of the state for the first 6 months of 1983. Of 593 districts,…

In the wake of January 1988 takeover legislation to improve education in the State of New Jersey, this paper describes and justifies the strict state three-tier monitoring system of school district educational standards. School districts that need improvement after the first level of monitoring must develop an improvement plan to overcome their…