Assessment for Learning Project is an intensive, classroom-based, collaborative professional development program provided by New Jersey City University and Hudson County Community College for K-3 teachers and administrators from three Charter Schools in Jersey City: Learning Community Charter School, The Ethical Community Charter School and Jersey City Community Charter School. The project is funded by the New Jersey Department of Education.
The goals of the two-year project are:
- To assist K-3 teachers in identifying and focusing on instructional objectives in a English Language Arts
- To train and support K-3 teachers in designing formative assessments to measure their students’ achievement of English Language Arts objectives
- To train and support teachers in their use of student formative assessment data to make instructional decisions tailored to students’ learning needs
- To foster collaboration among teachers to improve student achievement and build common formative assessments
- To improve school leaders’ support of teachers’ implementation of the formative assessment and instructional intervention processes
The teachers work in Professional Learning Communities in each school, supported by an Assessment Coach. All teachers and administrators will meet five times during the academic year for full-day workshops on the NJCU Campus. Teachers will also attend an additional 15 hours of monthly team meetings with coaches, and 20 hours of direct coaching in their classrooms. These meetings teach the participants strategies for evaluating and focusing on curriculum objectives, creating formative assessments, using data from assessments to determine personalized learning plans for students, and creating instructional interventions.
At the end of the first year of the project, all participants will receive 3 graduate credits from NJCU for the course: ECE 607: Assessment Practices for the Primary Grades: Best Practices in Urban Environments. For those participating in the second year of the project, they will earn an additional 3 credits for the course LTED 646 Diagnostic Procedures in Reading I (3). These six credits may be applied to the Reading Specialist program at NJCU for those who want to continue in a master’s program.
The larger impact of the Assessments for Learning Project will include the improvement in English language arts performance of over 800 children annually who are served by these public charter schools as well as the ongoing K-16 professional learning community that will be established by the five partners in this project.