Opinion ID: 2301105
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Substantive Educational Standards

Text: In Abbott VI, we required the Department to provide [s]ubstantive educational guidance for all Abbott district preschool programs ... by April 17, 2000 in preparation for the 2000-01 school year. 163 N.J. at 107, 748 A. 2d 82. That requirement stemmed from a set of related concerns: the need for criteria against which district programs can be evaluated and for a mechanism to prevent the development of a two-tiered system in which one group of children is offered daycare and another group is offered high-quality preschool. Ibid. Substantive educational standards provide goals for teachers and students alike, as well as direction for achieving those goals in the classroom. In response to our mandate in Abbott VI, the DOE adopted the Expectations in April 2000. DOE, Expectations, at http://www.state.nj.us/njded/ece/expectations (last visited on Dec. 31, 2001). Similar to the Core Curriculum Content Standards (CCCS) [4] for grades K12, the Expectations outline the goals of preschool education without, however, specifying the details of a curriculum aimed at achieving the desired results. Subsequently, on December 17, 2001, the DOE proposed an amendment to N.J.A.C. 6A:24-3.3(a)(4) requiring districts to integrate the goals of the Expectations into their preschool programs. 33 N.J.R. 4186, 4187. Because the DOE's position on the Expectations is that they are not meant to be used in isolation, but as one of the many resources that are essential to building a developmentally appropriate early childhood program, Expectations, supra, at Preface, ¶ 3, the Department promised the creation of a curriculum strategy, the Early Childhood Education Curriculum Framework ( Framework ), to supplement the Expectations with substantive guidance and to aid in the realization of the Expectations. DOE, Framework, at http://www.state.nj.us/njded/ece/framework/index.html (last visited on Dec. 31, 2001). The DOE has not issued a final version of the Framework, and, therefore, plaintiffs ask us to declare that the DOE has failed to fulfill the mandate of Abbott VI. Plaintiffs submit that the Expectations alone do not provide the guidance necessary for districts and community providers to implement uniform, high-quality preschool education in the Abbott districts. The Commissioner has advised that the development of the Framework has significantly advanced. DOE, Early Childhood Education: Advancing Implementation, Ch. 3(a), at http://www.state.nj.us/njded/ece/implementation ( Advancing Implementation ) (last visited on Dec. 31, 2001). In September 2001, the Department released, in draft form, an extensive substantive chapter on strategies to meet preschool expectations and to guide assessments of the children's progress. The chapter covers social and emotional development, creative arts, mathematics, science, and other areas. DOE, Framework, at http://www.state.nj.us/njded/ece/framework/doc. Continued progress with the Framework is essential for the scheduled review by the early childhood education community to be effective and for educators to have adequate time to plan programs for the 2002-03 school year. For the current school year, the Abbott districts are integrating the goals of the Expectations with nationally recognized preschool curriculum models. Twenty-four Abbott districts employ one or more of these recognized models: five use Curiosity Corner, eleven use High/Scope or their own program based on High/Scope, four use Creative Curriculum, one uses Scholastic's Early Childhood Workshop, two use a hybrid of at least two of the aforementioned programs, one uses a hybrid of Abecedarian and the Kellog Five Star Project, and six have developed their own curricula. In his June 1 decision, the Commissioner direct[ed] ... the Department [to] revise its practices and procedures as may be necessary to include ... review of district curriculum plans and to remain faithful to the Framework development schedule established in the Department's Advancing Implementation document. In re Abbott Global Issues, No. 171-01, slip op. at 73 (Commissioner of Education June 1, 2001) (Commissioner Decision); see also N.J.A.C. 6A:24-3.3(a)(4). DOE review of curriculum plans will assist the districts in compliance with Framework strategies. See proposed amendment to N.J.A.C. 6A:24-34 at 33 N.J.R. 4186, 4187 (Dec. 17, 2001). To ensure availability of detailed curricula for use in the 2002-03 school year, and to meet the DOE's time frame for implementation workshops, the DOE must, as scheduled, complete a final draft of the Framework by April 30, 2002. See Advancing Implementation.