Source: https://www.scribd.com/document/1327857/description-tags-nj
Timestamp: 2018-06-22 04:09:06
Document Index: 215328820

Matched Legal Cases: ['§9304', '§9302', '§9101', '§1111', '§9101', '§9101', '§9101', '§9101', '§9101', '§9101', '§1119', '§1111', '§1111', '§9101', '§1111', '§2121', '§2122', '§2122', '§2141', '§9101', '§9101', '§9101', '§9101', '§9101', '§9101', '§9101', '§1119', '§1119', '§1111', '§1111', '§1111', '§1111', '§2121', '§2121', '§2141', '§1119']

description: tags: nj | Elementary And Secondary Education Act | Teachers
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New Jersey Department of Education April 11-12, 2005
U.S. Department of Education Monitoring Team: Julie Coplin Miriam Lund Allison Henderson (Westat) New Jersey Department of Education Richard C. Ten Eyck, Assistant Commissioner, Educational Programs and Assessment Jay Doolan, Director, Academic and Professional Standards Iris Nagler, Title II, Part A and SAHE Coordinator, Office of Standards and Professional Development Eileen Aviss-Spedding, Manager, Professional Standards Anne Cornwell, Director, Office of Grants Management Suzanne Ochse, Director, Office of Title I Program Planning and Accountability Jan Niedermaier, Coordinator, Office of Academic and Professional Standards Patricia Shay, Coordinator of Discretionary Grants Overview of New Jersey: Number of Districts: 672 Number of Teachers: 101,156 Total State Allocation (FY 2004): $65,482,566 Allocation for local educational agencies (LEAs): $61,586,353 State Educational Agency (SEA) State Activities Allocation: $1,620,694 State Agency for Higher Education (SAHE) Allocation: $570,021, plus $84,804 in administration. Scope of Review: Like all State educational agencies (SEAs), the New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE), as a condition of receiving funds under Title I, Part A and Title II, Part A of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), provided an assurance to the U.S. Department of Education (the Department) that it would administer these programs in accordance with all applicable statutory and regulatory requirements, including those in Title I, Part A that concern “Highly Qualified Teachers” and those that govern the use of Title II, Part A funds. See §9304(a)(1) of the ESEA. One of the specific requirements the Department established for an SEA’s receipt of program funds under its consolidated state application (§9302(b)) was submission to the Department of annual data on how well the State has been meeting its performance target for Performance Indicator 3.1: “The percentage of classes being taught
Page 2 – New Jersey Monitoring Report by ‘highly qualified’ teachers (as the term is defined in §9101(23) of the ESEA), in the aggregate and in ‘high-poverty’ schools (as the term is defined in §1111(h)(1)(C)(viii) of the ESEA).” The Department’s monitoring visit to New Jersey had two purposes. One was to review the progress of the State in meeting the ESEA’s highly qualified teacher (HQT) requirements. The second was to review the use of ESEA Title II, Part A funds by the SEA, selected districts, and the State agency for higher education (SAHE), to ensure that the funds are being used to prepare, retain, and recruit high-quality teachers and principals so that all children will achieve to a high academic achievement standards and to their full potential. The monitoring review was conducted April 11-12, at the offices of the NJDOE. As part of the review, the Department monitoring team met with Jay Doolan, Director, Academic and Professional Standards and Iris Nagler, Title II, Part A SEA and SAHE coordinator. The review team conducted telephone interviews with the Elizabeth, Jersey City, Hackettstown, and Woodstown-Pilesgrove Public School Districts.
Page 3 – New Jersey Monitoring Report
Element Number Critical Element Has the State developed and implemented 1.1. procedures, consistent with the statutory definition of highly qualified, to determine whether all teachers of core academic subjects are highly qualified (§9101(23))? Critical Element Are all new elementary school teachers 1.2. (including special education teachers, as appropriate) required to pass a rigorous State test in reading, writing, mathematics, and the other areas of the elementary school curriculum to demonstrate subject-matter competency (§9101(23)(B)(II))? Critical Element Are all new middle and secondary school 1.3. teachers (including special education teachers, as appropriate) required to demonstrate subjectmatter competency, in each core academic subject they teach, consistent with §9101(23)(B)(II)(ii)? Critical Element Are all veteran (i.e., those who are not new to 1.4. the profession) elementary school teachers (including special education teachers, as appropriate) required to demonstrate subjectmatter competency by passing a rigorous State test or by completing the State’s “High Objective Uniform State Standard of Evaluation” (HOUSSE) procedures (§9101(23)(C))? Critical Element Are all veteran middle and secondary teachers 1.5. (including special education teachers, as appropriate) required to demonstrate subjectmatter competency in each core academic subject they teach, consistent with §9101(23)(B)(II)(ii)? Critical Element For each set of HOUSSE procedures the State 1.6. has developed, can the State describe how it meets each of the statutory requirements in §9101(23)(C)(ii)? Monitoring Area 1: Highly Qualified Teacher Systems & Procedures Description Status Commendation 7 Page
Page 4 – New Jersey Monitoring Report Critical Element Does the SEA ensure that, since the beginning 1.7. of the 2002-03 school year, districts only hire highly qualified teachers (including special education teachers, as appropriate) to teach in Title I programs? Critical Element Has the SEA ensured, since the beginning of the 1.8. 2002-03 school year, that districts that use ESEA Title II funds to reduce class size hire only highly qualified teachers for such positions? Critical Element Does the SEA’s plan establish annual 1.9. measurable objectives for each LEA and school to ensure that annual increases occur: • in the percentage of highly qualified teachers at each LEA and school; and • in the percentage of teachers who are receiving high-quality professional development to enable such teachers to become highly qualified and successful classroom teachers (§1119(a)(2)(A))? Critical Element Does the SEA also have a plan with specific 1.10. steps to ensure that poor and minority children are not taught at higher rates than other children by inexperienced, unqualified and out-of-field teachers? Does the plan include measures to evaluate and publicly report the progress of such steps (§1111(b)(8)(C))? Critical Element Has the State reported to the Secretary in its 1.11. Consolidated State Performance Report (CSPR) the number and percentage of core academic classes taught by highly qualified teachers, in the aggregate and in high-poverty schools, consistent with the statutory definition of highly qualified (§1111(h)(4)(G); §9101(23))? Critical Element Does the State prepare and disseminate to the 1.12. public an Annual State Report Card (§1111(h)(1)(C)(viii))? If so, how is it disseminated? Finding 8
Page 5 – New Jersey Monitoring Report Monitoring Area 2: Administration of ESEA Title II, Part A Description Status Does the SEA allocate funds according to the statute, using the most recent Census Bureau data as described in the Non-Regulatory Guidance (§2121(a))? Does the SEA require an application from each LEA before providing Title II, Part A funding? If yes, what information does the SEA require in the LEA application (§2122(b))? Does the SEA require each LEA to describe how the activities to be carried out are based on the required local needs assessment (§2122(b))? Does the SEA have a procedure to determine the amount of funds each LEA expended during the period of availability? Does the SEA have a procedure to regularly review the drawdowns of the LEAs? Does the SEA have a written policy on allowable carryover funds? If an LEA cannot obligate funds within the 27 months of availability (which includes the extra year of availability permitted under the Tydings amendment), does the SEA have a procedure for reallocating these funds to other LEAs? Does the SEA have records to show that each LEA meets the maintenance of effort requirements? Does the SEA ensure that it and its component LEAs are audited annually, if required, and that all corrective actions required through this process are fully implemented? Has the SEA identified and provided technical assistance to LEAs that are not making progress toward meeting their annual measurable objectives in meeting the highly qualified teacher challenge (§2141)? Finding 9
Page 6 – New Jersey Monitoring Report Monitoring Area 3: State Activities Description Does the State use its State Activities funds to promote the recruitment, hiring, training, and retention of highly qualified teachers and principals? Does the State support activities that focus on increasing the subject-matter knowledge of teachers and that assist teachers to become highly qualified?
Element Number Critical Element 4. 1. Critical Element 4.2.
Page 7 – New Jersey Monitoring Report
Critical Element 1.1: Has the State developed and implemented procedures, consistent with the statutory definition of highly qualified, to determine whether all teachers of core academic subjects are highly qualified (§9101(23))? Commendation: The State is commended for its HQT procedures and documentation. Beginning in 2003, the State worked with various stakeholder groups to develop the HQT procedures. The State produced a user-friendly document that explains the HQT and HOUSSE procedures and provides the necessary forms for teachers to determine their HQT status. New Jersey has assisted its teachers through two rounds of HOUSSE procedures. Critical Element 1.3: Are all new middle and secondary school teachers (including special education teachers, as appropriate) required to demonstrate subject-matter competency, in each core academic subject they teach, consistent with §9101(23)(B)(II)(ii)? Finding: The State does not require new middle and secondary school teachers of history, geography, civics/government, or economics to demonstrate subject-matter competency in each of those subjects they teach. The State allows middle and secondary social studies teachers new to the profession to demonstrate subject-matter competency by holding a general social studies certificate, having a major in one of the four social studies areas (regardless of assignment), and passing the broad-field social studies assessment. The broad-field assessment used for the demonstration of social studies content knowledge may not provide adequate subject-matter demonstration for each of the core academic subjects explicitly noted in the statute. Citation: §9101(11) of the ESEA identifies history, geography, civics/government and economics as individual core academic subjects. §9101(23)(B)(ii) of the ESEA requires new teachers of core academic subjects to demonstrate subject-matter competency in each core academic subject they teach. Further Action Required: The NJDOE must ensure that all history, geography, civics/government and economics teachers demonstrate subject-matter competency in each of these subjects that they teach, no later than the end of the 2005-06 school year. (In doing so, if the NJDOE has determined that the coursework requirement for an academic major in one of the four social studies areas provides coursework “equivalent to a major” in any of the other specific core academic subjects, it also will need to specifically explain the basis for its determination.)
Page 8 – New Jersey Monitoring Report Critical Element 1.5: Are all veteran middle and secondary teachers (including special education teachers, as appropriate) required to demonstrate subject-matter competency in each core academic subject they teach, consistent with §9101(23)(B)(II)(ii)? Finding: The NJDOE does not require veteran middle and secondary school teachers of history, geography, civics/government, or economics to demonstrate subject-matter competency in each of those subjects they teach. The State allows veteran middle and secondary social studies teachers to demonstrate subject-matter competency by holding a general social studies certificate, having a major in one of the four social studies areas (regardless of assignment), and passing the broad-field social studies assessment. The broad-field assessment used for the demonstration of social studies content knowledge may not provide adequate subject-matter demonstration for each of the core academic subjects explicitly noted in the statute. Citation: §9101(11) of the ESEA identifies history, geography, civics/government and economics as individual core academic subjects. §9101(23)(C) of the ESEA requires teachers of core academic subjects not new to the profession to demonstrate subject-matter competency in each core academic subject they teach. Further Action Required: The NJDOE must ensure that all history, geography, civics/government and economics teachers demonstrate subject-matter competency in each of these subjects that they teach, no later than the end of the 2005-06 school year. Critical Element 1.7: Does the SEA ensure that, since the beginning of the 2002-03 school year, districts only hire highly qualified teachers (including special education teachers, as appropriate) to teach in Title I programs? Finding: The State does not have procedures to ensure that LEAs hiring special education teachers who provide direct instruction in core academic subjects for their Title I schoolwide programs are highly qualified. Citation: §1119(a)(1) of the ESEA requires that all teachers hired after the first day of the 2002-03 school year to teach in Title I programs must be highly qualified. Further Action Required: The NJDOE must submit a written plan with specific procedures and a timeline for requiring LEAs in the State to ensure that all teachers hired to teach in Title I programs after the first day of the 2002-03 school year, including special education teachers providing direct instruction in core academic subjects, demonstrate that they are highly qualified in each core academic subject they teach, either by passing the State’s test for demonstrating subject-matter knowledge or by satisfying HOUSSE procedures established by the State if they are not new to the profession.
Page 9 – New Jersey Monitoring Report Critical Element 1.9: Does the SEA’s plan establish annual measurable objectives for each LEA and school to ensure that annual increases occur: • in the percentage of highly qualified teachers at each LEA and school; and • in the percentage of teachers who are receiving high-quality professional development to enable such teachers to become highly qualified and successful classroom teachers (§1119(a)(2)(A)). Commendation: As part of the State’s online LEA application process, LEAs enter their annual measurable goals and objectives for the upcoming year. The State populates the database with the current HQT data to assist LEAs in setting their targets. The system allows both the SEA and LEA to track progress in a user-friendly manner. Critical Element 1.12: Does the State prepare and disseminate to the public an Annual State Report Card (§1111(h)(1)(C)(viii))? If so, how is it disseminated? Finding: The NJDOE has collected HQT data in the required format. State officials indicated that it is about to release its Annual State Report Card with the required HQT data. The State was unable to share a draft of the embargoed Report Card with the review team. Therefore, the team could not verify that the data to be released are in the required format. Citation: §1111(h)(1)(C)(viii) of the ESEA requires each SEA to include in its Annual State Report Card data on the percentage of classes in the State not taught (in core academic subjects) by highly qualified teachers, in the aggregate and disaggregate by highpoverty (as the term is defined in §1111(h)(1)(C)(viii) of the ESEA) compared to lowpoverty schools. Further Action Required: The NJDOE must report to the public and to the Department, as required by §1111(h)(1)(C)(viii), the percentage of classes not taught by highly qualified teachers at all grade levels (and disaggregated by high-and low-poverty schools), as required for the Annual State Report Card. When the Annual State Report Card containing the required data has been prepared, please submit a copy to the Department of Education to verify that this has been completed.
Critical Element 2.1: Does the SEA allocate funds according to the statute, using the most recent Census Bureau data as described in the Non-Regulatory Guidance (§2121(a))? Finding: The State is using LEA enrollment data (public and private schools) for the portion of the allocation of funds based on the total number of children aged 5-17 who reside within the LEA.
Page 10 – New Jersey Monitoring Report Citation: As required in §2121(a)(3), in any year in which the amount available in the State for LEA grants exceeds the sum of the “hold harmless” amounts for LEAs, the SEA distributes excess funds based on the following formula: • • 20 percent of the excess funds must be distributed to LEAs based on the relative number of individuals ages 5 through 17 who reside in areas the LEA serves (using data that is determined by the Secretary to be the most current); and 80 percent of the excess funds must be distributed to LEAs based on the relative numbers of individuals ages 5 through 17 who reside in the area the LEA serves and who are from families with incomes below the poverty line (also using data that is determined by the Secretary to be the most current).
Further Action Required: For the next round of ESEA Title II, Part A LEA allocations, the NJDOE must use only the most recent available Census data (as determined by the Secretary) on the number of children age 5-17 who reside in the area served by the LEA. The most recent data can be found at http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/saipe/. Critical Element 2.7: If an LEA cannot obligate funds within the 27 months of availability (which includes the extra year of availability permitted under the Tydings amendment), does the SEA have a procedure for reallocating these carryover funds to other LEAs? Recommendation: The State currently reallocates carryover funds to LEAs in the subsequent cycle of grant allocations—even to districts that had carryover funds. Districts have 3 months to spend these carryover funds. The review team recommended that the State may want to consider reallocating carryover funds to target priority areas. For example, the SEA may want to reallocate carryover funds to districts with large percentages of teachers who are not HQT. Critical Element 2.10: Has the SEA identified and provided technical assistance to LEAs that are not making progress toward meeting their annual measurable objectives in meeting the highly qualified teacher challenge (§2141)? Finding: The State recently completed its second year of HQT data collection and districts have set annual goals and objectives toward meeting the highly qualified teacher challenge. However, the State and district data systems will need to be merged in order for the State to target districts that are not making progress toward meeting their annual goals. The State will begin this process over the next few months. Citation: §1119(a)(2)(A) of the ESEA requires each SEA to develop a plan to ensure that all teachers teaching core academic subjects within the State are highly qualified by the end of the 2005-06 school year. See Critical Element 1.9 for more information. Further Action Required: The NJDOE must submit a written plan with specific procedures and a timeline for implementing this requirement. See Critical Element 1.9 for more information.
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Critical Element 3.1: Does the State use its State Activities funds to promote the recruitment, hiring, training, and retention of highly qualified teachers and principals? Commendation: The NJDOE is commended for its commitment to opening alternative routes to teacher certification. New Jersey has one of the oldest routes in the country and now is refining it to help special educators meet the challenges of NCLB and IDEA. The State has used Title II, Part A funds in the past to support its alternative route. Critical Element 3.2: Does the State support activities that focus on increasing the subject-matter knowledge of teachers and that assist teachers to become highly qualified? Commendation: The State is commended for its commitment to systemic reform based on student content standards. New Jersey has aligned all teacher preparation and staff development to the content standards. Commendation: The State is commended for realigning all aspects of teacher training and licensure to the requirements of NCLB. The new licensing regulations have been revamped to include the NCLB teacher quality provisions. The State has worked extensively with its teacher preparation programs to ensure that all students, including those working toward special education certification, hold a content-area degree. Preparation in the content areas is aligned with the State’s student content standards. The State used a portion of State Activities funds to support the development of the new licensure system.
Critical Element 4.2: Does the SAHE have procedures to ensure that eligible partnerships include the required members, i.e., an institution of higher education and the division of the institution that prepares teachers and principals, a school of arts and sciences, and a high-need LEA? Commendation: The SAHE is commended for its outreach to private schools, not only in the high-need LEAs but in the entire geographic area served by the IHE as well.
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