New Jersey Administrative Code › Title 6A - EDUCATION › Chapter 8 - STANDARDS AND ASSESSMENT › Subchapter 1 - GENERAL PROVISIONS › Section 6A:8-1.3 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 14, July 15, 2024
The following words and terms shall have the following
				  meanings when used in this chapter unless the context clearly indicates
				  otherwise.
"Accommodations or modifications to the Statewide assessment
				  system" means changes in testing procedures or formats that provide students
				  with disabilities and multilingual learners (MLs) an equitable opportunity to
				  participate in assessment and demonstrate their knowledge and skills in the
				  areas assessed.
"ACTFL" means the American Council on the Teaching of
				  Foreign Languages.
"Adult education assessment test" means a test approved by
				  the United States Department of Education that is used to award a State-issued
				  high school diploma.
"Advanced Placement courses" means courses aligned with
				  course descriptions provided by the College Board and intended to provide
				  students with the opportunity to complete college-level studies during
				  secondary school.
"All students" means every student enrolled in public
				  elementary, secondary, and adult high school education programs within the
				  State of New Jersey, including general education students, students with
				  disabilities, and multilingual learners (MLs).
"Alternative State assessment for students with disabilities"
				  means the alternative assessment used to determine cumulative student
				  achievement of the knowledge and skills specified by the New Jersey Student
				  Learning Standards for students with disabilities who are unable to participate
				  in the Statewide assessment system.
"Annual measurable objectives" or "AMOs" means the
				  performance targets set by New Jersey in the Elementary and Secondary Education
				  Act (ESEA) flexibility waiver approved by the United States Department of
				  Education.
"Approved private schools for the disabled" means
				  incorporated entities approved by the Department according to N.J.A.C.
				  6A:14-7.2 or 7.3 to provide special education and related services to students
				  with disabilities who have been placed by the district board of education or
				  charter school responsible for providing their education.
"Assessment" means a State-developed or State-approved
				  standardized instrument or process that measures student performance levels on
				  the New Jersey Student Learning Standards.
"Career awareness, exploration, and preparation" means
				  instruction and programs that assist students to clarify career goals; explore
				  career possibilities; develop employability skills; develop foundational
				  knowledge necessary for success in the workplace; and make the transition from
				  school to careers, including college, training, and employment.
"Career and technical education" means as defined in
				  N.J.A.C. 6A:19-1.2.
"Charter school" means as defined in N.J.A.C. 6A:11-1.2.
				  "Chief school administrator" means the superintendent of schools or the
				  administrative principal who works directly with the district board of
				  education if there is no superintendent in the school district.
"CLEP" means College-Level Examination Program, which
				  enables students to receive college credit by earning qualifying scores on
				  examinations that are offered by the College Board and cover material taught in
				  courses most students take as requirements in the first two years of college. A
				  college usually grants the same amount of credit to students earning
				  satisfactory scores on the CLEP examination as it grants to students
				  successfully completing the course.
"Content equivalent" means courses or activities that
				  include the same or equivalent knowledge and skills as found in traditionally
				  titled courses that are required for high school graduation and are aligned
				  with the New Jersey Student Learning Standards. The content must be taught by
				  certified teachers, may be integrated in one or more courses, may be titled
				  differently, or may present material in an interdisciplinary or spiral
				  format.
"Credit" means the award for the equivalent of a class
				  period of instruction, which meets for a minimum of 40 minutes, one time per
				  week during the school year or as approved through N.J.A.C.
				  6A:8-5.1(a)2.
"Cut score" means a score on the assessment scales that
				  demarcates the various performance levels.
"English language development standards" means as defined in
				  N.J.A.C. 6A:15-1.2.
"Evaluation," formerly called "monitoring," means the
				  process by which the Commissioner or his or her designee evaluates the status
				  of each school district or charter school. "504 plan" means a written
				  educational plan prepared by the 504 team for a 504 student.
"504 student" means a student who has a physical or mental
				  impairment that substantially limits a major life function; has been determined
				  eligible for services, including accommodations and modifications by the school
				  district's 504 team; and has a 504 plan.
"504 team" means a group of persons that makes program and
				  placement decisions according to Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973,
				  29 U.S.C. § 794., and 34 CFR § 104.35(c).
"GED" means tests of General Educational Development taken
				  in order to qualify for a State-issued high school diploma.
"Gifted and talented students" means students who possess or
				  demonstrate high levels of ability in one or more content areas when compared
				  to their chronological peers in the local school district and who require
				  modifications of their educational program if they are to achieve in accordance
				  with their capabilities.
"IEP" means individualized education program as defined in
				  N.J.A.C. 6A:14-1.3.
"IEP team" means as defined in N.J.A.C. 6A:14-1.3.
"Indicator" means statements that further delineate the
				  NJSLS.
"Individualized student learning opportunities" means
				  student experiences based upon specific instructional objectives that meet or
				  exceed the NJSLS at the high school level. Such opportunities may occur in all
				  NJSLS and may include, but are not limited to, independent study; online
				  learning; study-abroad programs; student exchange programs; and structured
				  learning experiences, including, but not limited to, work-based programs,
				  internships, apprenticeships, and service learning experiences. The
				  opportunities shall be based on student interests and career goals.
"Instructional adaptation" means an adjustment or
				  modification to instruction enabling students with disabilities, MLs, or
				  students in alternative education programs or who are gifted and talented to
				  participate in, benefit from, and/or demonstrate knowledge and application of
				  the NJSLS.
"Interdisciplinary connections" means integrating NJSLS and
				  skills from one or more content areas into instruction and assessment of
				  another content area.
"Laboratory/inquiry-based science course" means a course in
				  which students are systematically provided with ongoing opportunities to use
				  data drawn from or to interact directly with the natural and
				  designed/engineered world, using tools, data collection techniques, models, and
				  scientific concepts and principles. "Magnet program" means a distinctive
				  program designed to:
1. Attract
				students by offering a specialized curriculum based on a special theme or
				method of instruction; and
2.
				Substantially strengthen the knowledge of academic subjects and the attainment
				of tangible and marketable vocational, technological, and professional skills
				of students attending the program.
"ML" means multilingual learner, indicating a person who is
				  in the process of acquiring English and has a first language other than
				  English. MLs sometimes are referred to as English language learners (ELL) or
				  limited English proficient (LEP).
"MOPI" means the ACTFL Modified Oral Proficiency Interview,
				  which is a standardized assessment of functional speaking ability often used to
				  test lower proficiency ranges.
"New Jersey Student Learning Standards" or "NJSLS" means
				  standards adopted by the State Board of Education on May 1, 1996, and as
				  thereafter revised by the State Board, and the Common Core State Standards
				  adopted by the State Board on June 16, 2010, and as thereafter revised by the
				  State Board, that describe the knowledge and skills all New Jersey students are
				  expected to acquire by benchmark grades in the following areas: English
				  language arts; mathematics; science; social studies; visual and performing
				  arts; comprehensive health and physical education; world languages; technology;
				  and 21st career life and careers. The standards are established for the
				  provision of a thorough and efficient education pursuant to N.J.S.A. 18A:7F-46
				  and as a basis for the evaluation of school districts in accordance with
				  N.J.A.C. 6A:30.
"Native language" means the language or mode of
				  communication first learned by the student. "OPI" means the ACTFL Oral
				  Proficiency Interview, which is a standardized assessment of functional
				  speaking ability currently available in 37 world languages.
"Pacing guide" means a schedule that includes aligned
				  concepts, topics and skills related to a particular curriculum to be addressed
				  over a defined period of time. It is not a prescriptive, lock-step set of
				  lesson plans that impede an educator's ability to exercise flexibility in
				  meeting students' learning needs.
"PARCC assessment" means the set of assessments designed by
				  the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers that was
				  used from the 2014-2015 through 2017-2018 school years to determine student
				  achievement of knowledge and skills specified by the NJSLS in English language
				  arts and mathematics.
"Performance level" means one of several categories
				  describing student proficiency with regard to the achievement of the
				  NJSLS.
"Personalization" means enabling students to build and
				  strengthen relationships with peers, teachers, other staff members, families,
				  and the community at large through multiple strategies that promote engagement
				  and high expectations based on individual interests and aptitudes, and that are
				  conducive to successful teaching and learning experiences.
"Personalized Student Learning Plan" means a formalized plan
				  and process that involves students setting learning goals based on personal,
				  academic, and career interests, beginning in the middle school grades and
				  continuing throughout high school with the close support of adult mentors,
				  including teachers, counselors, and parents.
"Portfolio appeals process" means an alternative assessment
				  of proficiency for graduation established by the Commissioner, pursuant to
				  N.J.S.A. 18A:7C-3, utilizing techniques and instruments other than PARCC
				  English language arts (ELA) 10 or Algebra I assessments, the State graduation
				  proficiency test, or substitute competency tests.
"Professional development" means a comprehensive, sustained,
				  and intensive approach to improving the effectiveness of teachers, principals,
				  and other school personnel in raising student achievement.
"Proficient" or "proficiency" means a student-achieved score
				  at or above the cut score, which demarks a solid understanding of the content
				  measured by an individual section of any State assessment.
"QSAC" means the Quality Single Accountability Continuum,
				  which is used pursuant to N.J.A.C. 6A:30 to review and evaluate school district
				  operations.
"Rehabilitation Act" means the Federal Rehabilitation Act of
				  1973, 29 U.S.C. §§ 701. et seq., as amended in 1992.
"Service learning experience" means a method that allows
				  students or participants to learn and develop through active participation in
				  thoughtfully organized activities that are conducted in and meet the needs of a
				  community, and that help foster civic responsibility. Service learning
				  experiences shall be coordinated with the community and with an elementary or
				  secondary school, institution of higher education, or community-services
				  program; shall be integrated into and enhance the school district's academic
				  curriculum; and shall provide structured time for students to reflect on the
				  service experience.
"STAMP" means Standards-based Measurement of Proficiency,
				  which is a test that is delivered, graded, and reported online, and that
				  assesses students' language proficiency from the "Novice-Low" to the
				  "Intermediate-Mid" benchmark levels.
"Standards support materials" means documents published by
				  the Department that include and elaborate on the NJSLS for preschool through
				  grade 12 education, and that may assist in the development of local
				  curricula.
"State Board" means the New Jersey State Board of
				  Education.
"State-endorsed diploma" means a locally-issued document
				  awarded to an exiting student indicating successful completion of high school
				  graduation requirements.
"State graduation proficiency test" means a Statewide
				  assessment that is aligned, at a minimum, to the New Jersey Student Learning
				  Standards (NJSLS) for ELA 10, Algebra I, and Geometry, and administered
				  pursuant to N.J.S.A. 18A:7C-1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 6.1. For students eligible to
				  utilize the alternative means in accordance with N.J.A.C. 6A:8-5.1(g)1 to meet
				  the graduation assessment requirement, the State graduation proficiency test
				  shall also include the substitute competency test, which is an alternative set
				  of third-party assessments approved by the Commissioner that may include, but
				  are not limited to, the SAT, PSAT, ACT, ACT-Aspire, Armed Services Vocational
				  Aptitude Battery-Armed Forces Qualifying Test (ASVAB-AFQT), or
				  Accuplacer.
"State-issued high school diploma" means a diploma issued by
				  the State of New Jersey. "State Seal of Biliteracy" means the designation
				  established pursuant to P.L. 2015, c. 303, to recognize high school graduates
				  who have attained a high level of interpretive, interpersonal, and
				  presentational proficiency in one or more languages in addition to
				  English.
"Structured learning experience" means as defined in
				  N.J.A.C. 6A:19-1.2.
"Study abroad programs" means programs that enable New
				  Jersey students to attend a high school in another country for a semester or
				  full academic year to acquire academic and cross-cultural skills that will help
				  them live and work in a globally interdependent world.
"Substitute competency test" means, for students in the
				  classes of 2018 through 2022, an alternative set of third-party assessments
				  approved by the Commissioner, including, but not limited to, the SAT, PSAT,
				  ACT, ACT-Aspire, Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery-Armed Forces
				  Qualifying Test (ASVAB-AFQT), or Accuplacer, that can be used to demonstrate
				  competency in the NJSLS for students who have not demonstrated proficiency on
				  PARCC ELA 10 or Algebra I assessments or the ELA or mathematics components of
				  the State graduation proficiency test.
"Technological literacy" means students meeting NJSLS 8.1
				  Educational Technology, obtained through the integration of effective
				  educational technology practices, strategies, and tools throughout all
				  curricular areas.
"Transcript" means a document for all students exiting the
				  public education system that describes a student's progress toward achievement
				  of the NJSLS and other relevant experiences and achievements.
"Twenty-first century careers" means careers and occupations
				  that have been impacted by technological and global forces and are in an
				  ongoing state of reinvention due to technological advances and
				  e-commerce.
"Twenty-first century themes and skills" means themes such
				  as global awareness; financial, economic, business, and entrepreneurial
				  literacy; civic literacy; health literacy; learning and innovation skills,
				  including creativity and innovation, critical thinking and problem solving, and
				  communication and collaboration; information, media, and technology skills; and
				  life and career skills, including flexibility and adaptability, initiative and
				  self-direction, social and cross-cultural skills, productivity and
				  accountability, and leadership and responsibility.