This playbook provides ways in which Governors and teams can blur the lines between high school, postsecondary education, and the workforce. Governors play a significant role to Raise the Bar for student success by developing an "education-to-workforce system" that focuses on Unlocking Career Success.

In 2010, the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) released the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for K-12 English language arts/literacy and mathematics. CCSS are a state-led effort to define the knowledge and skills students need to graduate from high school…

Each year, governors take the stage to highlight accomplishments and outline policy priorities for their states. In an effort to provide up-to-date information on education policy trends, Education Commission of the States tracks all education policy proposals and accomplishments featured by governors in these State of the State addresses. At the…

Amid the cacophony of special interests fighting to be heard in statehouses and on Capitol Hill, a cadre of current and former chief state school officers is elbowing its way into the nation's education debate at a time when states are taking more control of K-12 education. A little more than a year old, Chiefs for Change is an invitation-only…

Giving children high-quality preschool is the first step in the journey to school success. The next steps--kindergarten through 3rd grade--are equally important. Advocates for Children of New Jersey (ACNJ) is working on several fronts to help school districts across the state build strong early learning programs, which can significantly improve…

The Supreme Court's 1925 ruling in "Pierce v. Society of the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary" ("Pierce"), striking down a law from Oregon that would have required all children, other than those needing special education, between the ages of 8 and 16 to attend public schools, essentially upheld the right of nonpublic…

In a 2012 paper for the Center for American Progress, "The State of Evaluation Reform," Patrick McGuinn (Drew University) identified the opportunities and challenges facing education agencies in Race to the Top (RTTT) grant-winning states as they prepared for the implementation of new teacher evaluation systems. The 2012 study undertook…

What began as a swashbuckling move by the mayor of Newark, New Jersey, the state's governor, and a newly minted billionaire to reshape the beleaguered Newark school system has turned into a tangle of blowback and counterpunches as skeptics contend the plan would violate state law. At issue is the power-sharing arrangement proposed by the three…

This article employs Bourdieu's concept of capital to understand how state officials and teacher educators in New Jersey used three different forms of capital--economic, social, and cultural--in their struggle to shape the undergraduate teacher preparation and the first state sponsored alternative route program to teacher certification. Based on…

Employing Bourdieu's notion of social field, this research conceptualizes New Jersey's alternate route to teacher certification as a contested arena, in which the interests, ideologies, and visions of different stake-holders regarding the character of public education have collided. Findings for this study are primarily based on data from the New…

New Jersey has some good early learning programs in place, but it has not taken a systemic approach to ensure access, quality and coordination of programs. The broad nature of early learning, which encompasses health, child care, education and parent involvement, makes it difficult to create a uniform system. Roughly 20 different New Jersey state…

Governors who put education at the center of their agendas and aspirations act in a long-standing tradition of American political leadership. Among those who did so are leaders who made an imprint on U.S. history both during their gubernatorial terms and afterwards. This paper describes how governors and gubernatorial aspirants can exercise…

Dr. Saul Cooperman, newly appointed Commissioner of Education in New Jersey, discusses his views on state aid cuts; the "Thorough and Efficient" Law, formally known as the Public School Education Act of 1975; paper work, urban education, good schools, and other issues facing New Jersey public education. (Author/LC)

State-mandated assessment of student outcomes has emerged as a new feature in the higher education landscape. Many states have linked an institution's response to eligibility for incentive funds or other tangible rewards. The actual effects of these initiatives were studied in five states: Colorado, Missouri, New Jersey, South Dakota, and…

Presents the statement of the state Commissioner of Education before the New Jersey Senate Education Committee in defense of increased funding to urban school districts provided by the Quality Education Act. Argues that state legislators have a moral obligation and legal duty to see poor school districts properly funded. (SLD)