There are major changes coming to the education landscape in the New Jersey and administrators from around the state are have their first taste of it.

Education Commissioner Christopher Cerf Speaking at Jackson Liberty High School
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Acting State Commissioner of Education Christopher Cerf along with his staff outlined changes to the new initiative at Jackson Liberty High School Wednesday morning.

The new plan places the focus on cutting the achievement gaps seen throughout the state and working towards dong a better job making sure students leave the school systems with adequate knowledge and skills to serve them in the work force or high education.

He notes that while the state continues to do very well overall on state standardized testing, he notes the large achievement gap between white, black, and Latino students. As much as 20 percentile points between white and Hispanic students in math, and 31 percentile points between white and black students.

 

To close the gap Cerf discussed not only the need for the state to adopt more stringent education guidelines, but also to focus more specifically on quality of education, specifically in terms of noting improvement. This will be coinciding with a waiver which would suspend the “No Child Left Behind” policy enacted during George W. Bush’s presidency.

“Under No Child Left Behind, very little credit was given for growth all of the focus was on absolute measures of proficiency.” Said Cerf

Additionally the DoE will be adopting a new method for evaluating teachers which will go into full effect in the 2013-2014 school year. The goal will be to not only retain but attract talented and sought after teachers. Cerf notes that it is high time teachers be properly compensated for exceptionally ability in the classroom as well as for offering very in demand skills needed to a school district (ie bilingual special ed).

Schools that fail to comply with these methods will be subject to intervention from the DoE. Cerf notes that additionally the there will be seven access centers throughout the state aimed at helping school districts.

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