State Board Retreat Focuses On Vision & Mission for NJ Education, Gets Overview of CAR Model

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The New Jersey State Board of Education met October 21, having an in-depth discussion on their vision for education in New Jersey.  As part of that discussion, Executive Director Pat Wright gave the overview of her model for school improvement, the Connected Action Roadmap (CAR).  CAR has been embraced by the Department of Education as the model or framework for continual improvement in schools.

About CAR

CAR is a comprehensive and coherent model of school improvement.  The model links standards and learning objectives, effective instruction, formative and summative assessments, culture and climate, teacher and principal effectiveness, and enhanced student learning to the work of professional learning communities.

http://fea.njpsa.org/documents/pdf/2012conf/car_fall_conf_2012.pdf

State Board

The Board had an opportunity to review the model and explore their role.  State Board President Mark Biedron expressed that he saw the framework as essential to not only ensuring quality instruction but also improving school climate in schools.   Commissioner Hespe spoke about CAR aligning the work of all actors within the system – from policy makers, like the State Board to, implementers, like school leaders and teachers.

Other Topics

In addition to an overview of CAR, the Board also received an update on school funding, the work of the Innovation unit at the Department, which works with charter and renaissance schools, as well as an update on PARCC in light of the Department’s recent release of aggregate scores on the new assessment.