New Jersey's urban initiative - revitalization of urban schools

American Education, July, 1984 by Saul Cooperman

New Jersey's Urban Initiative

One of the most complex challenges facing American education today is the effort to revitalize our urban schools. Among the problems generally associated with this challenge are low test scores, high rates of absenteeism, violence, classroom disruption and high dropout rates. Yet individual urban schools and school districts across the country have achieved remarkable successes in cities like Houston, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, and New York.

In March 1984, Governor Thomas H. Kean introduced New Jersey's urban initiative. With it, New Jersey became the first state to plan a comprehensive, collaborative, statewide approach to addressing the problems of inner city schools. Moreover, because of its research design, New Jersey educators will be able to track and analyze all its components, and to share the results with interested educators nationwide.

New Jersey is a natural laboratory for a statewide urban school program because of its high concentration of urban population:

Of New Jersey's nearly 600 operating school districts, less than 10 percent, only 56, are defined as urban districts. Yet they contain nearly 40 percent of the state's school children.

Many of those 400,000 urban students attend schools with the highest concentrations of the emotionally handicapped, the socially and economically disadvantaged, and the linguistically deficient.

New Jersey's new, rigorous basic skills test--one of the state's high school graduation requirements --could increase the dropout rate in urban districts.

From its earliest discussions, the Urban Education Advisory Committee --the department's only standing committee--concluded that urban students face an interwoven set of social, economic, and educational problems. Low-level standards, classroom disruption and high absenteeism were not the only causes of poor performance in many urban schools. Drugs on the street, lack of effective role models, and poor diet were also parts of the problem.

These latter factors are beyond the direct control of educators. As a result, the state Department of Education concluded that only a widespread commitment--from its staff, local board members and superintendents; principals, teachers, and students; parents, community, and business leaders--would allow schools to address the problems within their control, those within the building.

A successful urban initiative will require just such a commitment. The collaborative nature of that commitment is essential. Urban school problems are local ones, and no solution imposed from above could possibly solve them. As a result, New Jersey's urban initiative emphasizes the plain hard work that must come from the people in our urban districts--with support from our Department of Education --if they are to solve their school problems.

Department staff translated this thinking into a program which would apply the effective schools research in a statewide, comprehensive effort to confront the state's urban school problems. Through that program, the department is offering a plan geared toward achieving specific objectives and is also offering some limited resources. But if it is to work, the people in the districts will have to tailor that plan to their needs--and then make it work.

Two components: broad-based and concentrated

New Jersey's urban initiative has two components--a broad-based assistance program for all the state's urban districts and a concentrated program, called Operation School Renewal, focused on three initial target districts.

The broad-based program will assist urban districts by providing programs and planning help in nine critical issues, which include:

Improving reading, math, and writing skills;

Increasing the vocational education pupil employment rate;

Improving special education options for secondary students;

Helping compensatory and bilingual students to graduate, and dropouts to get diplomas and jobs;

Reducing the incidence of disruptive behavior and substance abuse;

Increasing the appropriate use of computers.

Any of the state's 56 urban districts can participate in these areas. Some may choose to participate in several; others may want to participate in a limited way or not at all.

In Operation School Renewal, the concentrated program, three initial target districts will each enter into a three-year, individualized project aimed at improving school performance. This program will begin with three districts, in order to assure staff and resources adequate to do the job well.

The initial target districts are being selected, with the help of a state level advisory committee, from urban districts that volunteer. To qualify, the department is asking these districts to make a commitment to the project by signing a written contract. Target districts must agree to:

Participate for at least three years;

Guarantee high district priority for the initiative and the support of the district superintendent and participating principals;