This report of the Red Bank Education and Development Initiative is the product of thousands of hours of work performed by close to forty committed community leaders. In addition, many more people – teachers, parents, school administrators and others – provided input by way of focus group discussions and interviews. The result of all these efforts is a set of strategies that the Red Bank community can adopt to become one of the best places to raise and educate children of all races and backgrounds.

The people who have contributed to the development of this report have come together voluntarily, not to point the finger of blame, but to provide constructive input and to develop solutions to the problems facing Red Bank children. Though the process has been difficult at times, the potential benefits to Red Bank children and to the overall community have tended to outweigh the difficulties.

Though this report represents a major milestone for the Initiative, much more work remains to be done. The next phase of the process will require the schools, community organizations and borough government to assess where each stands with respect to the findings and strategies presented here, and to devise specific plans to achieve the vision that Initiative members share. If we are to achieve success, the mission and vision of the Initiative members must come to life in organizations throughout the community. Red Bank children must have many heroes and heroines.

The success of the Initiative’s efforts to date would not have been possible without the assistance of several talented, committed professional advisors. The Initiative members wish to thank each of the following individuals for their able assistance, commitment and professionalism:

Phil Forlenza, Giordano, Halleran and Ciesla, attorney (volunteer)

Rachel Hickson, focus group facilitator and advisor

Karen Irvine, communications consultant (volunteer)

Gina Palazzo, Palazzo Graphic Design, document designer

Dr. Clifton L. Smith, Clifton L. Smith, Inc., Organization Development and Team Building Consultant, process designer and facilitator

Sherrie Tromp, Center for Organization Development and Leadership, Rutgers University, focus group facilitator and advisor

Alison Vallenari, Vallenari and Associates, meeting facilitator and advisor

 

Finally, the Initiative members would like to express appreciation to all of the individuals and organizations who have provided financial assistance to the Initiative, including:

The Red Bank Education Foundation

The Community YMCA

State of New Jersey / Senator John Bennett

Anonymous private donors

On behalf of Red Bank children, thanks to you all.

Red Bank Education and Development Initiative

June 24, 2002

Board of Directors

Mr. W. David Tarver – President

Dr. Donald Warner – Vice-President

Mrs. Barbara Horl – Secretary

Mr. Michael Stasi – Treasurer

Mr. Phillip Forlenza

Hon. Edward J. McKenna

Mr. John McMahon

Dr. Linda Milstein

Mrs. Meredith Pennotti

Mrs. Theresa Poku

Mr. Richard Pollock

Dr. Edward Westervelt

The Red Bank Education and Development Initiative (the Initiative) was organized in 2001. The purpose of the organization is to enhance the education and development potential of Red Bank youth. The Initiative brings community stakeholders together in a strategic planning and team building process. The objective of the process is to create a set of strategies and plans for improving education and development outcomes for Red Bank children. The Initiative was formed with the following goals:

· vastly improved student performances – competitive with surrounding communities.

· much greater participation by Red Bank children in enriching recreational and cultural activities and programs.

· better access for students and families to services like quality health care and counseling.

· better communication and coordination between Red Bank families, schools and community organizations.

· a united and effective community team to address education and child development issues.

· a community and school system that are models of success for others to follow.

· a much-improved perception of Red Bank as a place to raise and educate children.

Initiative members include teachers, administrators, community organization staff, clergy, government officials, community leaders, and parents. The basic criteria for Initiative membership are 1) a significant stake in the education and development of Red Bank children, 2) commitment to working in a collaborative process to improve results, and 3) the leadership and communications skills necessary to be effective. The list of people who have contributed as Initiative members during the past year is contained in Attachment A.

The idea for the Initiative began with a lunch conversation in early 1999 between Dr. Michael Rush, then superintendent of the Red Bank Borough Schools, Rev. Dr. Dwight Cris Northington, pastor of Calvary Baptist Church and a former Red Bank Borough Schools board member, and David Tarver, then president of the Count Basie Learning Center board of directors. At that lunch meeting, Dr. Northington stressed the need for a clear and documented set of plans to improve the academic performance of Red Bank children. Dr. Rush acknowledged the need for such plans, but indicated that the plans should be community-based. Mr. Tarver agreed with both assertions and volunteered to convene a community group to develop a strategic plan to enhance the education and development of Red Bank children.

Planning for the Initiative got underway in the summer of 2000. Mr. Tarver enlisted the help of Dr. Clifton L. Smith, an organization development and team building expert, to design the strategic planning process for the Initiative. In January and February of 2001, Mr. Tarver convened a core group of community leaders to discuss the need for the Initiative and to review the proposed design for the strategic planning process. The core group members concluded that a need did indeed exist to implement a strategic planning and team building process to improve education and development outcomes for Red Bank children. The core group also came to agreement on the general design of the process as proposed by Dr. Smith.

The Red Bank Borough schools were viewed from the outset as a key stakeholder in the development of Red Bank children. For this reason, the core group members sought a specific indication of support from the full Red Bank Borough Board of Education. This support was received, in the form of a Board of Education resolution, at the Board’s March 27, 2001 public meeting.

The core group spent the summer of 2001 preparing to assemble and organize a larger group of Initiative members. The core group established criteria for Initiative membership and them proceeded to identify people who fit the criteria. A key objective was to gain representation from all interested stakeholders, such as families, community organizations, borough government, and schools. The core group members completed the process of identifying potential Initiative members in August of 2001, and invited the potential members to a reception held on September 20, 2001.

At the reception, the concept of the Red Bank Education and Development Initiative was presented to the public for the first time. Prospective members were given information about the Initiative’s objectives and about the design of the planning process. Prospective members were also informed of the level of commitment required for effective Initiative participation. Each Initiative recruit was asked to provide explicit indication of the desire to become a member of the group. Those who provided such an indication were invited to participate as Initiative members.

The planning process utilized by the Initiative includes six major steps:

1. Fact-finding to clearly assess and document the current state of child education and development in Red Bank.

2. Vision-setting to establish a clear view of the desired future state of child education and development in Red Bank.

3. Development of recommended strategies to move from the current situation to the desired future situation.

4. Community review and discussion of recommended strategies.

5. Development of improvement plans by each stakeholder organization to guide implementation of agreed-upon strategies.

6. Implementation, assessment and support of stakeholder plans and programs.

With the release of this report, we are moving from step 3 three of the above process into steps 4 and 5. The Initiative seeks to gather community feedback on the information contained in this report. Next, the individual stakeholder organizations will take this report and the community feedback and develop specific improvement plans. Thus, the work of the Initiative is growing from the group of forty or so Initiative participants to involve the staffs of the many organizations who service Red Bank children and families.

At the first full Initiative meeting on October 11, 2001, members developed a list of questions and hypotheses about education and development of children in Red Bank. These questions and hypotheses were then divided into four major categories:

1. The Internal School Environment

2. Student Performance

3. Community Characteristics, Families and Student Learning

4. Community Asset Performance

The Initiative members divided into fact-finding and strategy development teams according to the four categories. These teams, working independently at times and collaborating with the other Initiative members at other times, produced the following results:

· determined the mission of the Initiative.

· established a clear vision of the desired future state of child education and development in Red Bank.

· gathered data from a wide range of sources to establish current conditions and to support development of improvement strategies.

· developed a set of recommended improvement strategies for stakeholder organizations.

The full report of each Initiative team is contained in Attachment B. Attachment C lists the sources of fact-finding information. The results of the teams’ fact-finding (data-gathering) efforts are included in various other attachments.

The mission statement describes the purpose of the Red Bank Education and Development Initiative, and was created by Initiative members on December 1, 2001. The mission statement is as follows:

This mission statement is noteworthy for several reasons. First, it puts the focus squarely on academic success. Second, it acknowledges that success must be defined in terms of all Red Bank children, and that all children can and must learn. Third, it sets a goal of being competitive with the best, not simply "improving". Finally, it recognizes that promoting cultural awareness and healthy social interactions are important objectives in a culturally and economically diverse town like Red Bank.

Initiative members collectively determined the desired future state of child education and development in Red Bank. Members have described this future in a series of vision statements. The following summary is drawn from the vision statements created by Initiative members:

Ø All Red Bank schools will be models of success for others to follow. The board, administration, teachers and parents will be mutually supportive, and will work together to promote student welfare. Teachers will have the highest expectations for their students, and students will take responsibility for their own learning.

Ø Red Bank students will perform at a level competitive with the best-performing districts. Students will have a passion for learning, and will be effective working individually and with others.

Ø Red Bank families will have the resources necessary to raise and educate their children. Parents and other care-givers will be involved and supportive of their children’s participation in school, recreation and enrichment activities. Local businesses and other community resources will play a vital role in supporting education and development of Red Bank children.

Ø All Red Bank children and families will have knowledge of, access to, and willingness to participate in quality programs for recreation, cultural enrichment, counseling, and nutrition and medical services.

 

After determining a vision for the future, Initiative members did fact-finding to determine current conditions, and developed strategies based upon the fact-finding results. Initiative members believe that successful implementation of these strategies will result in achieving the vision described above. The strategies recommended by the Initiative fall into two general categories:

1. Recommended general improvement strategies and characteristics that apply to all stakeholder organizations.

2. Recommended specific improvement strategies for schools, community organizations and government.

 

Committed leadership will be required to build and maintain a culture that leads to success for all Red Bank kids. Strong and capable leadership is required to put effective improvement plans in place, and to implement and assess the plans. The quality of the leadership and the quality of the staff will determine the success of each stakeholder organization in bringing about improvements.

In order to hit a high target, we must aim high. This means that we must have the highest performance expectations, not only for students, but also for parents, school teachers and administrators, community organization staff members, and borough government officials and staff. If we "raise the bar" for adults and children alike, we will see tremendous progress.

The schools, community organizations and borough government should produce specific plans to guide improvement efforts. The planning effort starts with identifying a team of people in each organization who will focus on and give priority to maximizing the success of Red Bank students. These plans should involve organization leadership, staff and "customers", and should be produced in collaboration with other stakeholders.

"Customers" are the children and families who receive services. Stakeholder organizations should seek to understand the needs of all segments of the community. Stakeholders should seek out students and families in all parts of the community, understand their needs, and make sure that the needed services are being delivered.

The schools, community organizations and government should collaborate with each other and with families to ensure the most effective delivery of services. The Initiative provides the vehicle for that collaboration, and for the on-going, community-wide assessment of results.

Each stakeholder organization should, within its area of concern, assume full responsibility for the success of all Red Bank children. For example, the schools should take full ownership of student academic achievement. Parents should take full ownership of their child’s academic and social success. The YMCA should take full ownership of the recreation and enrichment opportunities for Red Bank children. A stakeholder should not use deficiencies that exist elsewhere in the community as an excuse for failing to fulfill its mission.

Each stakeholder organization should implement continuous improvement processes, assessment of results, and adjustment of plans. The improvement, assessment and adjustment processes should involve staff at all levels of each stakeholder organization and should involve the families being served.

The result of the Initiative’s fact-finding and problem-solving efforts are a set of recommended strategies. A set of strategies was developed by each of the four fact-finding/strategy development teams, consistent with that teams area of investigation. It is the belief of the Initiative members that successful execution of these strategies by the stakeholders will result in significant improvement in education and development outcomes for Red Bank children, and will result in the achievement of the vision statements set forth above. The specific strategies proposed by the Initiative members can be divided into 1) strategies that apply to the all schools in Red Bank, such as the Red Bank borough schools, Red Bank Charter School, and St. James Catholic School, and 2) strategies that apply to community organizations and government or community/school partnerships.

1. Red Bank schools should secure and/or maintain strong, consistent leadership. School leaders should have excellent professional qualifications and should have a track record of school improvement success in a culturally and economically diverse setting.

2. Red Bank schools should strengthen teaching and learning by establishing and maintaining a culture of high expectations and professionalism.

3. Red Bank schools should devise, document and maintain an improvement plan that will determine how students will move from current performance levels to the desired performance levels. In addition to other items, this plan should identify and document the characteristics for effective staff, as a guide to recruiting and retention.

4. Schools should devise and maintain effective intervention for under-performing students. Intervention methods should address in-classroom, out-of-classroom, and summer time periods, and should include coordination between classroom instruction and after-school and summer school learning programs. Resources should be put in place to intervene early, often, and effectively.

5. Schools should implement excellent coordination and collaboration across K-8 grade levels, and should employ the same school design or reform model throughout the K-8 grades. Administrators and staff should meet regularly to coordinate activities.

6. Red Bank schools should establish and institutionalize a practice of regular effective communication between teachers and parents. Each school should accomplish deliberate and regular family contact through building trust and providing support.

7. Schools should implement a program of on-going, year-long professional development. This program should start with a needs assessment that is driven by teachers. The program should be delivered to all K-8 staff, with teachers from all grade levels participating together. The professional development plan should also be designed to help teachers and administrators deal more effectively with issues of culture, race and economic disadvantage. Teachers should have the opportunity to meet and collaborate with colleagues from other local school systems.

8. Schools should develop and implement a comprehensive plan to guide application of technology to enhance student learning. The plan should address professional development, student performance expectations, user policies, and integration of technology with curriculum.

 

1. The Red Bank community, in partnership with its schools, should establish a family resources organization to deal with children’s needs that may not be fully met in the home, and to provide a higher level of help and support to parents. This organization should include a counseling component that will advise students and families in both academic and non-academic areas. Counseling and guidance topics should include academic performance, recreation and cultural enrichment opportunities, and physical and mental health.

2. Community organizations, in cooperation with schools and borough government, should create a comprehensive set of high-quality after-school, weekend and summer programs that are available to all Red Bank children. These programs should address, among others, the areas of recreation, cultural and arts enrichment, academic tutoring and mentoring.

3. Schools and community organizations should partner to implement a consistent and effective program of parent involvement, education and support.

4. Community organizations should collaborate to ensure the delivery of quality support services to Red Bank families. Special emphasis should be placed on family counseling, child-care services, and health care/health maintenance services.

5. The borough, with the support of community organizations, should conduct a study of the transportation needs of Red Bank families as they relate to participating in after-school/out-of-school activities. The objective should be to ensure that children have a safe and effective way to travel to activities, whether on foot, bicycle, automobile or public transportation.

6. The borough, in cooperation with community organizations, should assess the availability of "affordable" housing and determine housing strategies that will encourage families to stay in Red Bank.

7. Community organizations and borough government should regularly assess "customer satisfaction" and participation of all segments of the Red Bank community. Staff should be "connected" to the community, and should be effective in dealing with all citizens regardless of race, culture or class.

8. Community stakeholders should seek and encourage the involvement of local businesses, colleges and universities with Red Bank schools and community organizations to make more resources available to children at low cost.

 

Initiative members have developed a set of strategies that they believe will achieve the vision of making Red Bank a top community for education and development of children. It is now up to each individual stakeholder organization to evaluate its position relative to the vision and strategies presented, and to formulate plans that guide its role in achieving the vision. The next steps in the planning process are:

1. Participating stakeholder organizations identify planning team members and a team leader.

2. Each planning team performs "gap analysis" to determine the organization’s current status with respect to the Initiative vision and recommended strategies.

3. Each planning team develops specific improvement plans to achieve the vision.

4. Representatives of each planning team work with representatives from other stakeholder teams to review and coordinate plans.

The Initiative members will coordinate and support the work of the stakeholder planning teams. Examples of stakeholder organizations and groups include:

· ASLAN Youth Ministries

· Brookdale Community College

· CPC Behavioral Health Care

· Monmouth County Chamber of Commerce

· Monmouth Day Care Center

· NJ Division of Youth and Family Services (DYFS)

· Parker Family Health Clinic

· Red Bank Borough

· Red Bank Borough Schools

· Red Bank Charter School

· Red Bank Kiwanis Club

· Red Bank Men’s Club

· Red Bank Ministerial Alliance

· Red Bank NAACP

· Red Bank parents and parent groups such as PTO

· Red Bank Regional High School

· Red Bank RiverCenter

· Riverview Medical Center

· The Community YMCA

· The Salvation Army

It is the hope of the Initiative that we can enlist the work and support of all key stakeholders in the effort to raise the performance and opportunities for Red Bank children. Stakeholders who subscribe to the Initiative’s mission and vision, and who agree to pursue the general strategies listed above, are encouraged to be a part of the Initiative effort. The above general strategies can be regarded as a "stakeholder pledge" that are a prerequisite for Initiative participation. The form of the pledge is as follows:

As a stakeholder in the successful education and development of Red Bank children, my organization, the _____________________________, pledges that we will:

Ø Ensure committed and capable leadership.

Ø Establish a culture of high expectations.

Ø Develop and maintain a comprehensive strategic plan.

Ø Provide excellent "customer service" to all segments of the community.

Ø Actively collaborate with other stakeholders.

Ø Take 100% ownership of student achievement.

Ø Pursue continuous improvement, continuous assessment.

Signed: _____________________________ Title: ________________________

Date: ____________

Of course, changes to improve opportunities for Red Bank children do not have to await the end of the planning process. Along the way, Initiative members will find many opportunities to collaborate and will identify and implement many improvements. Changes and improvements have already begun to occur, such as the recent coming together of the YMCA, the Count Basie Learning Center, and the Children’s Cultural Center. If we, the community come together with a focus on improving education and development outcomes for Red Bank children, we will make tremendous gains.