The present study utilized a randomized control trial to test the efficacy of a teacher coaching and formative assessment model combined with visual performance feedback to enhance teachers' classroom practices. The sample included 89 general education teachers, stratified by grade level, and randomly assigned to one of two conditions: (1)…

The Every Student Succeeds Act prohibits the federal government from requiring the use of student achievement data for teacher accountability purposes. As states grapple with what to do about teacher accountability, it is critical to examine policy influences on a) the equitable distribution of effective teachers; and b) how teacher accountability…

Extensive education research on the contribution of teachers to student achievement produces two generally accepted results. First, teacher quality varies substantially as measured by the value added to student achievement or future academic attainment or earnings. Second, variables often used to determine entry into the profession and…

The allure of using data to improve performance is a source of tremendous activity in the education field today. "Data use" has spurred a wide variety of reforms at all different levels of the education system, ranging from infrastructure augmentation to state databases, to district dashboard systems that collect and display an array of…

The development of the portion of a basic skills test that would adequately assess the writing ability of entering college freshmen in New Jersey is described in this paper. The stages of the test development process that are discussed include the decision to incorporate a writing sample in the form of an essay on a specified topic, the selection…

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…

A cut score validity analysis for a pretest writing prompt and the SAT Verbal and Math assessments was performed for academic writing course placement. This study was carried out as part of a broader program of assessment aimed at understanding the impact of the writing course and eventually set the baseline for assessing the impact of 'writing…

A model for planning and evaluating community education programs--Stufflebeam's context, input, process, product (CIPP) evaluation model--was described and field-tested with the community education programs in Lakewood, New Jersey. Community education was defined as a concern for everything that affects the well-being of all citizens within a…

New Jersey has taken steps to improve vocational education programs and services in response to two state reports and the measurement and evaluation requirements of the reauthorized Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Act of 1990 (P.L. 101-392). Among state initiatives is the Occupational Competency Project, a study of 100…

The paper describes the New Jersey Child Find project, a program to locate and identify all unserved handicapped children between the ages of 0 and 21 years. Noted are four project objectives (such as conducting community awareness campaigns), background of the project (including early efforts to identify handicapped children as a result of a…

The report describes the development and accomplishments of the Early Start Preschool Program (Vineland, New Jersey), a project to overcome developmental delays in communication and learning through a structured curriculum, parent training and participation, and a model nutrition program. Six outcome objectives, including objectives of gain in…

The impact of state-mandated testing on an urban school district in New Jersey is examined in this paper, which describes the evolution of the testing program and its shift in emphasis from individual student assessment to its use as the primary indicator of school success or failure. To meet state certification standards, 75 percent of the third,…

The paper describes the evolution of a special education delivery sytem in a Montgomery, New Jersey township. It is pointed out that the project's first year focused in preparing teaching, administrative, and Child Study Team members for project participation through meetings and newsletters. Noted are two goals which emerged from meeting…

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…

This study identifies and evaluates changes in secondary schools not meeting the minimum standards required by New Jersey as tested on the Minimum Basic Skills Test. The study identified the deficiencies in three urban high schools and evaluated the progress toward meeting the standards. All but 2 of the 76 recommendations made were implemented.…