Learning from New Jersey’s Experiences with PreK-3rd Reform

In a new book, In Plain Sight: Simple, Difficult Lessons from New Jersey’s Expensive Effort to Close the Achievment Gap, former New Jersey assistant commissioner of education Gordon MacInnes describes what the New Jersey Department of Education and some of the state’s highest poverty districts did to narrow the achievement gap for disadvantaged youngsters. Abbott districts are 31 high-poverty school districts involved in the Abbot vs. Burke litigation, the longest-running school finance equity lawsuit in the country. In 1998, the New Jersey Supreme Court mandated a number of education reforms designed to improve the achievement of disadvantaged youngsters in Abbott districts, including high-quality, universal pre-k for all 3- and 4-year-olds in these districts and improve quality curriculum and instruction from elementary through high school. As a result of the ruling, the New Jersey Department of Education has partnered with Abbott districts to implement a aggressive preK-3rd reform strategy that pairs high-quality pre-k with intensive early literacy and other supports in the early grades, to ensure that students are readind and doing math at grade level by the end of 3rd grade. This approach has led to substantial narrowing of the achievement gap in several Abbott districts.

On Tuesday, the Center for American Progress and The Century Foundation hosted MacInnes for a discussion of his book and New Jersey’s efforts to close the achievement gap. Pablo Muñoz, Superintendent of the Elizabeth Public Schools, an Abbott district that has made substantial progress in narrowing achievement gaps for low-income, English language learner students, and I also spoke at the event. You can learn more and see the event video here.

Later this year, New America will be taking a closer look at what New Jersey has done to support the implementation of quality pre-k programs and build a aligned preK-3rd system in the Abbott districts and elsewhere in the state. Stay tuned for more informaiton.