The New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) announced May 6 the opening of the 2013-2014 School Self-Assessment (Self-Assessment) program to grade school district’s efforts in implementing the Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights Act (ABR).
The Self-Assessment tool has been revised for this school year as outlined in the Department memo. The first step for each school is to, through the School Safety Team, complete the Self-Assessment. Once the Self-Assessment is completed, the chief school administrator is required to obtain public comment and board of education approval prior to submitting each school’s ratings to the NJDOE. The Guidance for Determining Grades under the Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights Act and corresponding Appendices (A, B, C, and D) describe all of the steps required to complete this program.
The web-based system used to collect each school’s Self-Assessment data is now open for input. This system requires the district homeroom administrator to create a school-level username for each new school user assigned to this project (HIB Grades), by using the homeroom administration application on the NJDOE Homeroom page.
New for this year, the chief school administrator must also be assigned to this project and obtain a district-level username. Users assigned to this project may visit the NJDOE Homeroom page, click on the link for HIB Grades and log in to enter and submit data. Additional information on creating user names is also included in the guidance. Please note: Charter schools still require only a school-level username.
The due date for completing, obtaining board of education approval, certifying and submitting the Self-Assessment is September 30, 2014. As such, it is recommended that school staff review the guidance and associated materials as soon as possible.
Should a Self-Assessment not be submitted by the due date, the NJDOE will issue a zero (0) for that school grade, which may also have a negative effect on the district’s grade.
Resources
- 2013-2014 Program Announcement Memo
- 2013-2014 Program Guidance
- School Self-Assessment (Appendix A)
- Sample Summary Report (Appendix B)
- Statement of Assurances (Appendix C)
- Overview of Activities Checklist (Appendix D)
Source: NJDOE