Education Connect

The New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) has developed an online platform in partnership with Pearson Schoolnet called edConnectNJ - NJ’s Instructional Improvement System (IIS) which has been developed to support educators, building leaders, and district administrators in their daily practice.
edConnectNJ = One integrated platform to inform users to make more strategic and effective decisions about their practice (each role has access to their feature row plus those above them)
Classrooms Module Assessment Admin Module District and Data Reporting Module

• Create and store lesson plans with the ability to link to standards and SLOs, or your district’s curriculum
• Develop lesson plans and attach resources pulled from NJCore.org
• Differentiate instruction and develop learning plans based on student performance at the individual, group, and classroom level

• View and comment on teacher lesson plans aligned to content standards
• Provide resource suggestions to teachers aligned to standards based on performance and need

• Efficiently deploy a standards-aligned, district-wide curriculum, scope and sequence through centralized creation, management and publishing tools

• Create assessments for your courses using a standards -aligned item bank
• Upload your own assessment or access district benchmark assessments
• Efficiently deploy assessments both online and using plain- paper for your students

• Centrally manage all aspects of the assessment process including test and item creation, test scheduling, printing, pre- slugging, scanning and assessment data collection progress

• Create a set of district-defined standardized reporting metrics and performance indicators to create consistency in reporting

• Identify trends and patterns by analyzing multiple measures of student performance in one report
• Immediately access a variety of assessment dashboards and reports to inform instructional planning, improve decision making and to identify struggling students for intervention

• Use highly visual and interactive data dashboards to chart progress towards goals related to student performance, demographics, attendance, enrollment and discipline

• Use a variety of teacher and school comparison reports to inform resource allocation, staffing and professional development needs

Model Curriculum

The purpose of providing a “model” is to assist districts and schools with implementation of the Common Core State Standards and New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards by providing an example from which to work and/or a product for implementation.  Each unit contains targeted student learning objectives (SLOs) that elucidate what students need to know and be able to do within the unit.  The six-week formative assessments included in the model curriculum help clarify the level of rigor expected from the standards and provide a set of assessment tools that are often difficult for districts and schools to create on their own.

The model curriculum (version 1.0) includes all standards of the grade-level content organized into five units of study, each with targeted SLOs, intended for six weeks of instruction each.  Each unit contains the content of the grade that can be reasonably taught to proficiency in a six-week time period.  The sequence of units in the model curriculum is a purposeful sequence of the target skills for each unit in each grade or course.  The included formative assessments allow for measuring student proficiency of those target skills as the year of instruction progresses. 

The turn-around principle has 26 pages and is detailed.  You will have to go to the  New Jersey Department of Education and type in RAC, then look for model curriculum.

The RAC

so is the RAC a racket after all?  It's so interesting.

The following information was taken from the New Jersey Department of Education website on the RAC or Regional Achievement Centers.
As outlined in New Jersey's No Child Left Behind waiver, the Department is undergoing a fundamental shift from a system of oversight and monitoring to service delivery and support. The Department will recognize high performing "Reward" schools and shift significant resources and support to "Priority" and "Focus" schools, those schools that are the lowest performing in the state or that have significant achievement gaps.

Seven field-based Regional Achievement Centers (RACs) staffed with expert school turnaround teams will work directly with Priority and Focus Schools to implement proven turnaround principles and dramatically improve student achievement.

Model Curriculum: 2015-2016 Implementation

Dates	September 8 - October 23, 2015		October 26 - December 18, 2015		January 4 - February 26, 2016		February 29 - April 22, 2016		April 25 - June 17, 2016
	5 Weeks Instruction	2 Weeks Assessment /Enrichment	5 Weeks Instruction	2 Weeks Assessment /Enrichment	5 Weeks Instruction	2 Weeks Assessment /Enrichment	5 Weeks Instruction	2 Weeks Assessment /Enrichment	5 Weeks Instruction	2 Weeks Assessment /Enrichment
ELA	Unit 1	EUA 1	Unit 2	EUA 2	Unit 3	EUA 3	Unit 4	EUA 4	Unit 5	EUA 5
Math	Unit 1	EUA 1	Unit 2	EUA 2	Unit 3	EUA 3	Unit 4	EUA 4	Unit 5	EUA 5

It's enough

Our schools are the institutions where our children go everyday for 10 months out of the year.  They are the places where children learn to socialize.  They learn to work in groups in class and during  physical activities in gym class.  They learn to work together as a team in group projects or as athletes.  They learn to be supportive of each other and to appreciate and accept each others differences.  That's so much better than learning to 'tolerate' each other.  They also learn many things through academics.  Math not only teaches students how to understand numbers, it teaches logical thinking and problem solving.  Social Studies teaches not only the history of our country and of our world, but how civilizations grow and the kind of thinking that started wars.  This knowledge could be used to prevent a repeat of the worse part of our history.  Reading opens a world of knowledge and sets a person free from limitations.   I don't have to go on, because you get what I'm saying.  Schools do more than show people how to add, subtract, multiply and divide, or how to read a book, or write a letter.  Schools help to teach our children how to be productive, participating, successful citizens in our society.  That can't be measured in a state test.  Children process information differently and they don't all display their knowledge in the same way.  Let's go back to building the best American Citizens that we can build and let's help them to have fun while they're learning.  It's enough already with all this testing.  It's enough.

What is going on?

Last year was a doosey!

Okay, maybe doosey isn't a word, but that fits my sentiment and the feelings of many teachers at Belleville Middle School in NJ.  You would never think that something so bazaar would happen in schools, but as we learn more and more, we discover that all of the people who are pretending to care about the children really don't care at all.  They are all trying to start charter schools so that they can accumulate wealth using state and federal money that is usually given to schools for salaries, upkeep, supplies, heat, light, water, etc.  Our local union president discovered a plot in our district being perpetrated reportedly by some people we all know.  It was shocking and hard to believe!  A couple of years ago, we suddenly were to receive "security" in our school.  Well, ok, we thought, we know that schools have become targeted of late, and maybe it was prudent.  That was until we discovered the details involving our "security".  He revealed at a meeting that there had been only one bid for the installation of the cameras.  The company was paid $2million (which by the way, we are short for our schools this year).  
     Well, there were cameras in every classroom.  Who was watching them?  What were they looking at?  It was weird that there were no cameras in the stairwell where most fights start and where a few children do inappropriate things.  Why were there cameras outside restrooms and in the teacher's room?  We know that cameras don't stop crimes, they can sometimes get clear details on the criminal.
How much money is this going to cost for manning the cameras and for upkeep of the machinery?  It turns out that $20,000 per month was suggested and turned down - in public session.  In private session it was approved.  What in the world is happening?
     Go to Nutley Watch.com and read the details.  It's so bazaar that it's unbelievable!

Don't like unions?

So I've heard a few people lately complain about unions.  Some are new administrators of charter schools.  Some are school board members.  You know, the ones who've never been in the trenches.  The ones who couldn't control and teach a class if they tried for a year.  They only think about the bottom line... the dollar.  It's criminal that teachers want a living wage! How dare teachers want to eat healthy food, clothe their children, live in a home and drive a reliable vehicle.  Have they driven past a school parking lot?  There are a lot of affordable, base line automobiles.  I wonder where teachers are hiding their millions?  Where are the expensive luxury cars?  Are they hiding their second car?  Oh no!  Are the teachers taking luxury vacations and wearing fur coats to work?  No, not hardly.  Teachers have degrees.  Usually more than one.  They are working hard and their hours extend beyond 3:00.  I can't believe that administrators who are all making more than $100,000 are complaining about unions getting teachers a living wage and health care for their families.  I don't know why it's a crime to want to be paid for a job that you worked hard to get a degree to be qualified for.
     Have these people ever had a student walk into their rooms with a gun?  I know people who have. Have they ever had a student throw a desk at them?  Yes, it does happen.  Have they ever tried to break up a fight between young children and ended up in the doctor's office or even the hospital emergency room themselves? I doubt it.  Have they been given a classroom with opposing members of a gang in it?  nope, they try hard not to ever be around troubled children.  Do they know of a principle who doesn't like a teacher, and therefore puts all the low scoring children in their class?  How about putting all the poorly behaved children in one class.  Do the board members or the administrators know what it's like to have -20 minutes for lunch?  Do they have to sit in fear of some unfair evaluation, or know that no administrator is going to back them up in the classroom if a child loses their manners and starts to behave badly?  Have they had students get into fights while they stood in the middle of it? No.  They haven't.  They don't even want to know about it.  Have they had to grab all their work materials and move to another classroom every class period?  Do they know that it is statistically proven that teachers have more bladder problems than people in other professions because they can't go to the bathroom when they need to?
     Teachers do what they do because they love knowledge, learning, teaching and children.  They do it without thanks, without extra pay, without security, without constant pleasant working conditions and sometimes without the materials and supplies that are necessary.  Without the union administrators would continue to torture and harass teachers until they quit, or they would give poor evaluations  until they could remove them so that they could put a relative in that same job.  Teachers wouldn't have a wage that would help them to care for their own children.  Teachers wouldn't have an adequate benefit package.  There was a time when no one wanted to be a teacher because they knew that they wouldn't be able to take care of their families.  I don't know one male teacher who has just one job.  They have to do something extra to stretch their home budget for their family.
     While there are some principals and superintendents who are thoughtful and supportive of teachers, they are not in the majority.  If you don't like unions, then you probably didn't like Dr. King, either.  We're talking about civil rights.  Living wages, health care for the family, adequate supplies and materials, respect for each other, a decent pension,  and sick time that allows teachers to care for their own children as much as they care for their students is necessary.  In education there is little room for advancement.  There is no bonus pay.  There are long hours that take time away from family and there are unreasonable demands placed upon teachers by some administrators.   Without unions there would be unchecked abuse and unfair treatment on teachers from some of those whose job it is to supervise.  We've all seen it.  Lets all be reasonable, talk to one another like equal adults and move forward together for the children, for our communities, for our country.

Public Charter schools/Public city schools....get info.

So we all know that charter schools are public schools.  They are privately owned and run, and publicly funded.  It sounds like a good deal for the owners.  What about the teachers?  Are teachers completely comfortable with this idea?  It depends on who you ask.  New teachers don't have much to compare it to.  Seasoned teachers are not comfortable.  They know that promises are made and not kept.  They know that unions are not always allowed in.  They know that salaries and tenure are up in the air.  There are actually some charter schools that require many hours from teachers.  More hours than the usual school requires.  What about the children of the teachers?  Now a teacher will have to decide whose children are more important.  All children are important.  We all know this.  What about charter school owners?  There are rumors that 60% of the schools in Newark are going to be charter soon.  Three of them are headed for the charter mill next year.  What will happen to the teachers?  Will the students have to apply to get into school?  Will the owners skip all over the list to choose the students who are at the top of the academic scale?  What about the students who don't get in? Where will they go?  Interesting that the answer the state has to turning the school district back to the people of the city is to turn 60% of the schools into charter schools.  There are some charter schools that are excellent and we're happy to have them.  The process is sometimes a problem.  The displacement of teachers and students is a problem.  I think we'd all better go to the ALI meetings on the Rutgers Newark Campus Saturday at 10:00.  Google it.  Check it out.  Find out what's going on.  It's open to everyone.

its been a while, but now I'm back...Benefits, pension, evaluations...what a mess!

Teacher pension, health care benefits and evaluations are pushing teachers away.  When I began teaching the profession wasn't offering much in the way of salaries, so teachers were attracted to the benefits.  The pensions weren't big, but they were enough to keep you interested.  The benefits meant that you could take care of the health of your children.  The evaluations were about as fair as anything can be when human beings are involved.  We teach because we love education, sharing knowledge, watching children in the age of discovery, and most of all we love students.  They are awesome whether they are small, large, young, or adult.  That's what keeps us there.  We love the children and the creative license we were given to make learning fun.
     Somewhere along the way, the profession of teaching lost it's charm and instead of being able to draw the cream of the crop, we started getting relatives of administrators who weren't very talented teachers, people who were burnt out on the business field and who thought teaching was a piece of cake, people who had struggled in school as students in special education classes, and just a wide variety of people who were wonderful human beings, but who weren't cut out to be teachers.  The complaining would start at about the second month.  Some would leave before the year was out, some would at least wait until the end of the school year, but then would run far away.  There were also some exceptional people who came into the profession.  They were so good that we would wonder why they didn't just come on in when they began their professional journey instead of taking a detour to do something else.  The answer would always be that there wasn't enough money to take care of their family in the teaching profession.  Some people came into the profession thinking it was a cake walk.  They believed the hype about a perfect classroom where the students stood up when the teacher walked into the room and would greet you with a chorus of "Good morning Mr. or Mrs. Teacher".  It was so funny to see their faces when reality hit them head on.  The kids don't stop talking or texting when you walk in unless you have developed your own technique of getting their attention.
     Now we stand together, teachers from all walks of life with the determination to accomplish all the things on the state test.  Where did the fun go? How can you create a joy for learning when everything is so regimented with little time for questions and discovery.  We feel as though we're in a race to complete our test schedule and we're  practically standing on our heads to keep the children interested, focused, participating and moving forward.  Up until  few years ago we had a 20 minute lunch.  During that time you have to actually get to the cafeteria, warm or unwrap your food, and decide whether you're going to eat your lunch or go to the restroom.  On top of those everyday things we have to add the concern over our pension, healthcare, and evaluations.  Our governor all but told the voters that we don't pay for those things.  HMMMM...I'd better check my pay stub again because I believe I do see a deduction for those things.  Soooo, the portion that we pay has now increased making our pay check smaller.  I know that people think we're so silly for continuously mentioning that, but I don't know one male teacher who has more than one job.  You can usually tell a teacher parking lot because of the cars that are parked there.  Depending on the age number of working years of the teaching staff, you will see small to mid-sized economic cars.  I'm not complaining, I'm just stating facts.  Teaching was what I was meant to do, I just wish our governor would pay the state's share of the pension.  The quality of our benefits wasn't supposed to be lowered, but things don't always work out the way they should.  More of my pay going towards other things is the way of the world.  So now, I have joined so many of my friends in getting not one part-time job, but two.

     The teacher evaluations that are currently being used are supposed to be based in part on the test scores of the children.  The other part is so complicated that many of us had to take several seminars in order to understand what was being asked of us.  After two years, (just in the nick of time) most of us have finally figured out the paperwork, terminology and requirements.  We have heard stories of administrators who put all the lower scoring students in the classes of teachers with whom they had a personality conflict.  In this way, after two years, they could begin to remove the teacher.  The teacher's ability didn't matter, it was the personality, or the look of the person that would spur the principal to move children who struggled with behavior and/or academics into that teacher's classroom in unmanageable numbers.    To us it seemed to be very easy for an administrator to set a teacher up, so the union had to really get organized and step up the pace and we did.
     So many people began to retire or change profession.  Our leaders should think about what they're doing because teachers have to live, too, and students need good teachers.  They are, after all, our future.