Education and Business Leaders Present A Call to Action for Testing Reform
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April 25, 2002 (Trenton, New Jersey) – New Jersey should move immediately to significantly change its current approach to educational assessment, testing, and evaluation. That was the core message from a new alliance of New Jersey’s major education organizations and prominent business leaders which today presented A Call to Action for Assessment Reform to New Jersey Governor James E. McGreevey and Education Commissioner William L. Librera.
The recommendations represent a collaboration of two organizations – the Coalition for Responsible Educational Assessment, Testing and Evaluation (CREATE) and the Business Coalition for Educational Excellence (BCEE) at the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce. These recommendations follow the Commissioner’s recent proposal to revise the state’s education assessment system in response to new federal requirements mandating testing each year from grades three through eight and the urgent need to move forward on Governor McGreevey’s early literacy initiative.
A Call to Action for Assessment Reform includes, among others, the following recommendations:
· Ensure that all components of the state’s assessment system are aligned with the Core Curriculum Content Standards;
· Require a more balanced and broader approach in the state assessment system, including state-administered standardized tests and district-administered performance assessments (e.g., student demonstrations, projects, competitions, and problem-solving tasks), with equal weight given to each for reporting and accountability purposes;
· Implement immediately a pilot program in a representative sample of school districts to share and develop exemplary student performance assessments and allow for valid and reliable statewide comparisons of student performance;
· Implement a single state-standardized test in each of language arts, mathematics and science, and performance assessments in all content areas of the Core Curriculum;
· Involve CREATE, the BCEE, and other stakeholders in the reform of New Jersey’s student assessment system; and
· Provide support for high quality professional development for educators to implement the assessment system.
“We are grateful to both CREATE and the BCEE for working together to address the important issue of statewide assessment,” said Governor James E. McGreevey. “We are pleased to accept this report and recognize it as the kind of crucial work which must be done to ensure we have a statewide assessment program that provides a meaningful look at the education of New Jersey’s children.”
“We have developed a blueprint for action that goes far beyond tweaking our current state testing system,” said JoAnn D. Bartoletti, executive director, New Jersey Principals and Supervisors Association and chairperson, CREATE. “A Call to Action for Assessment Reform will significantly change state assessment in New Jersey and encourage and reward the type of innovative instructional practices that our best educators are doing every day in New Jersey’s classrooms.”
“The engagement of all education stakeholders, including collaborations between organizations such as CREATE and the BCEE, is essential in building an assessment system that will work toward closing the student achievement gaps in our schools,” said Arthur F. Ryan, chairman and CEO, Prudential Financial, Inc., and chairman, Executive Committee, BCEE. “BCEE’s shared focus with CREATE will help ensure that all children educated in our schools achieve at high levels and develop the necessary skills to become productive adult citizens.”
The Coalition for Responsible Educational Assessment, Testing and Evaluation (CREATE) is an alliance composed of the New Jersey Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, the New Jersey Association of School Administrators, the New Jersey Education
Association, the New Jersey Principals and Supervisors Association, the New Jersey School Boards Association, and the Public Education Institute. CREATE formed in 1999 due to a shared concern that New Jersey had lost its focus on the most important reason for assessing students—to provide educators with the necessary diagnostic information to help all children realize their full potential as students. Over the past three years, CREATE has studied research on effective assessment practices and sponsored two statewide conferences, with more than 800 educators, parents, policymakers, and concerned citizens in attendance.
The Business Coalition for Educational Excellence (BCEE) is an association of New Jersey business leaders, educators, and policymakers who support a strong, continuously improving, standards-based public school system. The BCEE Executive Committee includes representatives of Prudential Financial, Inc., Verizon, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Infineum USA, Fleet Bank, and the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce. The BCEE promotes policies and implements programs that support the business agenda in K-16 educational reform and have greatly impacted the course of education reform in the state. To date, more than 900 New Jersey businesses have been engaged in one or more of the BCEE programs or policy efforts. Focal points for BCEE work include developing a quality educational system of standards, assessments, and accountability; quality teacher development; infusion of technology into education; and workforce readiness. For more information on the Business Coalition for Educational Excellence, please visit www.bcee.org.
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The full version of A Call to Action for Assessment Reform presented by NJ’s education and business leaders is attached, and is available on the web sites of the BCEE and each of the CREATE organizations.
Press contact Tom Woodard
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