New Jersey Quality Single Accountability Continuum (NJQSAC) Recommendations for Change June 1, 2011

Current QSAC Process  Three-year district-wide monitoring cycle that focuses on almost every aspect of State and Federal code requirements and best practices  Five District Performance Review (DPR) sections:  Instruction and Program  Fiscal Management  Operations  Personnel  Governance  Districts must meet 80% of requirements in all five DPR sections to be “high performing” and receive State Board certification.  Districts below 80% in one or more DPR sections must develop and implement district improvement plans (DIP), with periodic county office reviews of progress.

Review of QSAC Process  Committee of DOE and district staff reviewed QSAC process after three years of implementation and concluded the following:  Overall purpose of QSAC is necessary for improvement  Opportunity for districts that are not “high performing” to develop and implement a DIP, to assist them in increasing student achievement and identified areas of need.  Current process is cumbersome (334 indicators)  Many indicators are duplicative  Many indicators do not address DOE’s core mission of student achievement and teaching and learning and therefore, should not be monitored through QSAC.

Summary of Proposed Changes Narrow the Focus of District Performance Reviews (DPRs)  Instruction and Program  Fiscal Management  Governance Streamline Indicators  Reduce the number of indicators by 70%  Eliminate duplication and redundancy  Consolidate related indicators Create a Statement of Assurance (SOA)

Instruction and Program DPR Focus on the essential elements of teaching and learning  Student Performance  Curriculum  Instruction Monitor five critical content standards for career and college readiness:  Language Arts Literacy  Math  Science  Social Studies  World Languages

Proposed Change in Monitoring Student Performance Through State Assessments (NJASK and HSPA) Current Achieve 95% proficient (total population) OR 5% increase in proficiency (total population) Proposed Achieve 75%, 85%, or 95% proficiency OR 5% decrease in “gap”

Explanation of Proposed Calculation for District Progress on State Assessments  District acquires points based on the gap between 95% proficiency and district’s current percentage of proficiency.  Attainment of points depends on the district percentage of proficiency >=95%10 points >= points >= points < 75% but progress made* 5 points *Progress is based on a 5% decrease in the gap (current percentage of district and the goal of 95% proficiency)

Numerical Snapshot of 2010: Scores and the Impact of Proposed Student Performance Proficiency Levels QSAC CURRENT METHOD # of DIST (W/O CHARTERS) LAL Met 95%26 MET PROGRESS 5% 7 RECEIVE POINTS33 DON’T RECEIVE POINTS533 TOTAL DIST566 MATH Met 95%16 MET PROGRESS 5%45 RECEIVE POINTS61 DON’T RECEIVE POINTS505 TOTAL DIST566 QSAC PROPOSED METHOD # of DIST (W/O CHARTERS) LAL Met 95%26 Met 85% Met 75% MET PROGRESS 5% gap16 RECEIVE POINTS315 DON’T RECEIVE POINTS251 TOTAL DIST566 MATH Met 95%16 Met 85% Met 75% MET PROGRESS 5% gap55 RECEIVE POINTS447 DON’T RECEIVE POINTS119 TOTAL DIST566

Fiscal Management DPR  Hold districts accountable for financial and budgetary controls, grants management and annual audit  Eliminate the efficiency indicators because they are contained in the annual audit

Governance DPR  Ensure that the district board of education is held accountable for the general oversight and management of the school district  Focus on critical areas of statutory and regulatory compliance, budgetary priorities and administrative oversight

Statement of Assurance (SOA)  Provides a formative tool for districts to achieve and maintain code compliance;  Completed annually by the Chief School Administrator (CSA) and signed by the CSA and the Board President  Linked to the Governance DPR as an indicator  Reviewed once every three years as part of QSAC monitoring

Numerical Summary Streamlined Indicators Current QSAC IndicatorsNumberProposed QSAC IndicatorsNumber Instruction and Program77Instruction and Program23 Fiscal Management86Fiscal Management20 Governance56Governance5 Operations56 Operations DPR indicators were combined with Instruction and Program but the majority are found in the SOA. Personnel59 Personnel DPR indicators were combined with Instruction and Program and found in the SOA. TOTAL334TOTAL48 Statement of Assurance49