Fifteen school districts will share $1 million in grant funds to participate in the state’s Achievement Coaches initiative, the New Jersey Department of Education announced March 16.
Launched last year, the Achievement Coaches program is designed to recognize outstanding teachers and administrators across New Jersey and provide them with the opportunity to design and deliver professional learning sessions to their peers statewide.
In the first year of the program, 19 school districts selected 158 Achievement Coaches to participate in rigorous training. These educators have now led that same training with over 4,000 teachers in 60 districts.
Six “Training Team” districts that participated in the first year of the program and have been awarded 2016 grants to incorporate new resources and materials into refined training sessions will continue their work under the program. These educators will also lead the training of 13 new groups of teachers and administrators (approximately 80 educators) across nine new districts receiving Achievement Coach awards for the first time.
The six Training Team districts will split $400,000 in grant funds, while the remaining $600,000 will go to the nine Achievement Coach districts. The returning “training teams” are the Clearview Regional, East Brunswick, Old Bridge, Morris County Vocational-Technical, Jackson and Elizabeth school districts.
New participants include the Gloucester, Delsea Regional, East Greenwich, Jersey City, Lawrence, Piscataway, Sayreville, Lacey and North Plainfield school districts.
For more information on the program, visit the Achievement Coaches website.