Star Ledger --N.J. won't change mistakes in teacher attendance data
TRENTON -- New Jersey schools that reported inaccurate and misleading data about teacher attendance won't be able to change those statistics in the state's school report cards, according to the state Department of Education.
The decision means more than 100 errors, some more obvious than others, will remain on the public website. Mistakes range from implausible reports of no teachers using sick days in some school districts to no data reported at all for the state's largest district.
"As it is done every year, the districts get multiple weeks to review the accuracy of their data before submitting it to the department by the established deadline," Department of Education spokesman David Saenz said. "The district-reported data is not changed or altered by the department after the deadline."
N.J. teacher attendance data doesn't add up
The data includes a series of implausible statistics and misleading mistakes, school officials say.
The department will, however, address any data issues the state created when it compiled the reports, Saenz said.
The state's largest teachers union called the decision troubling and questioned why corrections won't be made to district-submitted data.
Adam Clark | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com| April 12, 2017 at 4:30 PM, updated April 12, 2017 at 4:31 PM
The Record--—Op-Ed--Stile: Long-shot pension ploy shows Christie as lame duck
Democrats have little incentive to collaborate with lame duck
Every time Gov. Chris Christie appears intent on cutting a deal behind closed State House doors, even his most ardent critics grudgingly admit that he should never be counted out.
Despite some notable flops, Christie can be a wily negotiator, and he's known for blowing up late-stage talks with what look to be deal breakers but somehow end up being part of a final agreement. Last year, for example, Christie squeezed a small, largely symbolic sales tax cut into a deal that included a 23-cent hike in the gas tax.
But this latest, legacy-minded rescue of the state’s public employee pension systems? It's a long shot at best.
Charles Stile| Published 6:06 a.m. ET April 12, 2017 | Updated 12 hours ago
Education Week--Teacher Prep Slow to Embrace Social-Emotional Learning
As social-emotional learning gains traction in schools, many teachers are coming into their jobs unprepared to develop students’ skills in areas like self-awareness and navigating relationships, advocates say.
That’s because many teacher-preparation programs don’t provide enough training on how to identify the skills students need to be successful, and how to teach those skills, they say. Some states have also been slow to adapt teacher-licensing requirements to the reality that a growing numbers of schools and districts are exploring or implementing social-emotional learning.
Developing students’ abilities in understanding their emotions and making responsible decisions is accomplished through a combination of direct instruction, incorporating those skills into academic work, and changes to whole-school factors like discipline policies and family engagement.
By Evie Blad:April 4, 2017
