FEDS: ADMINISTRATION CAN KEEP TARGETING 'PRIORITY' AND ‘FOCUS’ SCHOOLS
State DOE revises accountability system for state-run districts, severely challenged schools
The Christie administration has won the federal Department of Education’s approval to continue using its accountability system to target “priority” and “focus” schools, with some adjustments for state-operated districts and others with the highest needs.
The administration had to apply to the feds to renew its waiver from the No Child Left Behind Act and extend its policy of intervening in schools it deems the lowest performing.
The very lowest-scoring are so-called priority schools; those with specific achievement gaps are “focus schools.” The heart of the administration’s plan has been to use regional achievement centers to provide specialized assistance to these schools.
But in the latest application, the administration tweaked the model, removing the state-operated districts from the regional approach and assigning them their own interventions.
The state-operated districts -- Newark, Paterson, Jersey City, and Camden -- are where the vast preponderance of troubled schools are located.
The administration also set up a third tier of schools that it defines as those with the “highest need and lowest capacity” for improvement.
The Obama administration and U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan went along with the plan, continuing a waiver process that has all but sidestepped existing law under No Child Left Behind. Congress is in the midst of reauthorizing the statute, although it still faces some significant barriers.
“With this renewal, New Jersey will be able to continue implementing its plans to promote innovative, locally tailored strategies to improve educational outcomes for all students, close achievement gaps, increase equity, and improve the quality of instruction,” wrote Ann Whalen, acting assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of Education, in the renewal letter.
State Education Commissioner David Hespe and his department described the approval as an endorsement of Gov. Chris Christie’s “bold endorsement reforms.”
“New Jersey can take pride knowing that our efforts are leading to real Feds: Administration Can Keep Targeting 'Priority' and ‘Focus’ Schools - NJ Spotlight: