NJ: GRADUATION FOR ALL
Secondary Reform Campaign Platform

We are failing our kids with high stakes testing for graduation. Some young people are graduating without the necessary skills and others are held back because of unfairness in the testing system.

Before any /additional graduation tests are implemented, the NJ Department of Education must certify that all students have access to the qualified teaching personnel and academic support necessary to prepare for them.

We call for:

*Alternative assessment options: as the state moves towards new end-of-course and graduation exams it should allow districts to develop additional local performance assessment systems that support better teaching and learning and could be externally validated by the state.

* An implementation plan for all high school redesign initiatives to be given to schools before any new requirements are made. Such a plan would outline resource requirements, education requirements for teachers, and sample curricula. At the same time, there would be district assessment for “redesign readiness.” The need for such a plan is outlined in A3692/ S2574, the NJ Secondary Education Redesign Review Act.

*An explicit urban secondary reform initiative within the state’s high school redesign efforts. Parents should be on all school-based committees about graduation and performance. Such committees are called for in the NJ School Funding and Reform Act regulations, (N.J.A.C. 6A:13e) .