Thomas B. Fordham Institute - Advancing Educational Excellence

The Fordham Report 2006: How Well Are States Educating Our Neediest Children?

November 1, 2006

The Fordham Report 2006: How Well Are States Educating Our Neediest Children? appraises each state according to thirty indicators across three major categories: student achievement for low-income, African-American, and Hispanic students; achievement trends for these same groups over the last 10-15 years; and the state's track record in implementing bold education reforms. It finds that just eight states can claim even moderate success over the past 15 years at boosting the percentage of their poor or minority students who are at or above proficient in reading, math or science. In addition, most states making significant achievement gains--including California, Delaware, Florida, New York, Massachusetts, and Texas--are national leaders in education reform, indicating that solid standards, tough accountability, and greater school choice can yield better classroom results.

View the press release for this report

Contents

New Jersey

 

 


 

Tending the Garden of Education Reform

Not all the education news comes up roses in the Garden State, but the soil may be getting fertilized for the future.

Here is the bad news. The percentage of low-income, African-American, and Hispanic students scoring at or above the proficient level on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is in the teens or lower in reading, math, and science. This means that more than 80 percent of these students are not where they need to be in order to thrive in today's global economy. And in high-poverty centers such as Camden, one of the poorest cities in America, student performance is through the floor on state tests.

The good news is that the state is making moderate progress with these populations. Scores for both African-Americans and for Hispanics in fourth-grade reading and eighth-grade math are climbing. Moreover, a higher percentage of minority students is graduating from high school in New Jersey than almost anywhere else, though there is still plenty of room for improvement.

The state's willingness to hold its schools accountable for the achievement of all students is apparent in its implementation of the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. For instance, most poor and minority students are included in schools' "adequate yearly progress" determinations-a welcome contrast from states that have let schools off the hook for minority achievement.

The Garden State's testing-and-accountability system is mediocre, however, with middling academic standards and modest expectations for proficiency in reading and math. Fortunately, refinements continue. For example, New Jersey educators are working to align state tests with classroom curricula from kindergarten through high school. When this is accomplished, teachers can focus on covering the curriculum at hand and not waste class time prepping students for test questions that may or may not have been covered during the school year. New Jersey is also beginning to administer assessments more frequently and earlier in the year so they can be used as diagnostic tools.

The state has been particularly aggressive in funding its schools-for better and worse. On average, New Jersey taxpayers spend more than any other state on public schools, but students in wealthy suburbs used to get the lion's share of that cash. In a ruling that came on the heels of a 1997 judgment in the Burke v. Abbott case over funding equity, a judge in a separate case ruled that per-pupil spending in urban districts had to rise to the level enjoyed by students in wealthy suburban districts. As a result, some 31 so-called Abbott districts were designated by the state's commissioner of education and governor, and top policymakers granted them unlimited power to make funding adjustments in areas where student performance on state tests was lowest.

The state's governors and education commissioners since that time have not been bashful about exercising their authority. Consequently, class size in poor districts has been reduced below what Abbott requires, and preschool enrollments are up. Some credit these policies-and the additional money-for the state's learning gains.

Charter schools are also part of the reform equation in New Jersey. The state currently has fifty-four operating charters serving approximately 16,500 students, the vast majority of whom come from low-income households in cities such as Newark. There is no cap on the number of charters, but Jessani Gordon, executive director of the New Jersey Charter Public Schools Association, said charter school growth has been limited by poor funding. On average, charter schools in New Jersey receive 23 percent less per pupil than the state's traditional public schools, according to a report by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. This could be reversed if charters were eligible for Abbott funds, but they are not.

According to Gordon, however, New Jersey's politicians are feeling more pressure to help charter schools. Whether those warm feelings lead to policy change remains to be seen. But Cory Booker, Newark's newly elected mayor, gives reformers reason to be confident that pressure will lead to action. Booker is squarely on the side of school choice, a position for which he was savaged by his opponent during the campaign.

While charters struggle for equal treatment, teachers who are alternatively certified are doing well-as they should, since alternative certification got its start in the Garden State. New Jersey's program for liberal arts graduates and mid-career professionals interested in teaching is nothing if not impressive in breadth and depth. Richard Vespucci, a state education department spokesperson, says, "Half of all the instructional certificates we grant in New Jersey are alternate route," and 40 percent of teachers hired come through these nontraditional pathways-a higher percentage than in any other state.

Education in New Jersey is heading in the right direction. Despite its so-so academic standards and hamstrung charter school movement, it is starting to make progress for its most disadvantaged students though for the money it spends, the state should be seeing better results. Still, embracing these reforms wholeheartedly could be like Miracle-Gro® for the state's educational garden. When it comes to its children's future, New Jersey should settle for nothing less.

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