The state of New Jersey says they provide the best education for its children. Many things go hand in hand helping New Jersey educate its children. The first being standards that are followed to help children learn. The second being student achievement. The third being assessments. The last would be the teachers and administrators. (Standards)
In 1996 The New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards (NJCCCS) were adopted by the Board of Education. Local school districts were provided with benchmarks stating what students needed to know in all content areas which were visual/performing arts, comprehensive health/physical education, science, social studies, world language, technology, math, language arts literacy and twenty first century life/careers. (Standards)
In 2009, the NJCCCS, was revised by taskforces of educators with expertise in their content area. The standards were revised, and cumulative progress indicators to align with skills students needed for post-secondary education and the workplace. In June 2010 the New Jersey State Board of Education came up with the Common Core state standards in Language Arts and Math. The Common Core State Standards were developed to work hand in hand with teachers, schools administrators, and national experts to provide a clear and consistent learning progression. It was designed to help all students graduate and be ready and successful during college and their career. (Standards)
Model Curricula have been developed for English Language Arts (k-13), Mathematics (k-12), Social Studies (9-12), and Science (9-12). Soon there will Model Curricula for visual and performing arts (k-12), World Language (k-12), and P/E health (k-12). Model Curricula is being created to help districts, and schools implement the Common Core Standards by showing examples that work. It is the responsibility of the Local school districts to establish Curricula, and have selected materials aligned to the standards. (Standards)
Assessments in New Jersey have been standard based for over 30 years. In 1975, the New Jersey legislature passed the Public School Education Act (PSEA) to provide all children, no matter of the economic or social status, the education needed to prepare them to function politically, economically, and socially in a democratic society. Then it was amended a year later to establish uniform standards of minimum achievement in communication, and computational skills needed to graduate. (Assessments)
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