At the first full Initiative meeting on October 11, 2001, members generated a long list of questions and hypotheses regarding education and development of children in Red Bank. This list was generated without regard to methods or precision – the idea was to simply get every possible issue on the table. Then, the group, led by the Consultant, engaged in a structured process to select the most relevant and useful areas for further investigation. It is this process that determined the focus of the Initiative’s fact-finding efforts.

Using the selection process designed by the Consultant, the Initiative members divided the questions and hypotheses into four categories:

These are questions or hypotheses which group members agreed were of little use or relevance.

These are questions or hypotheses which some group members felt were of little use or significance, but other group members felt might be useful at some time.

These are useful and relevant questions that could be answered by the group with a high level of certainty, or useful and relevant hypotheses that the group felt could be accepted without further proof.

These are questions and hypotheses that the group deemed useful and relevant, but the group felt that more information was needed to answer the questions or validate the hypotheses. These items became the focus of the fact-finding efforts by Initiative members

The questions and hypotheses fell into four broad subject categories. Immediately following the October 11, 2001 meeting, members selected one of four fact-finding teams associated with a subject category. The subject categories are:

· The Internal School Environment

· Student Performance

· Community Characteristics, Families and Student Learning

· Community Asset Performance

Each team was charged with

a) collecting data to answer the assigned questions or validate the assigned hypotheses, and to understand the current situation

b) developing a set of vision statements for the subject category

c) devising recommended strategies to move from the current situation to the desired future situation.

The results of each team’s work is presented in the following pages. The results of each team’s fact-finding efforts are represented in terms of answers to the questions or hypotheses originally assigned to the team. Fact-finding information that supports each report can be found in the attachments.

Team Leader: Mike Stasi

All Team Members

When children feel safe at school and at home there will be a positive impact on their learning and development.

Red Bank community assets do not adequately address the education and development needs of its Hispanic families.

What professional development programs are available for educators?

Do teachers in public schools feel that they are under fire?

To what extent are they resistant to change?

What is the impact of the structure of educational institutions in Red Bank on student learning?

Focus groups with teachers from Red Bank Middle School, Red Bank Primary School, Red Bank Charter School, and St. James Catholic School

Interviews with Administrators from Red Bank Borough Schools, Red Bank Charter School, and St. James Catholic School. (Interviews are still in progress.)

 

 

In some ways, yes. Teacher focus group discussions reveal concerns in several areas, as indicated below:

1) The tension that exists for teachers between meeting the academic demands and personal needs of a child.

i) Lack of parental involvement and guidance in their child(ren)’s education. (Some parents may be too overwhelmed with their own personal problems to focus on their child’s needs.)

ii) Lack of socialization skills for effective teacher to student, student to student interaction.

iii) The importance of meeting the basic needs and resources (i.e. nutrition, hygiene and clothing) of a child at the same time that classroom learning is going on.

2) The need for adequate teaching and counseling resources.

i) Need for more professional development and training

ii) Need for parent training and parent support activities (engage them in the school community)

iii) Strong desire to collaborate with teachers from other schools to solve problems

iv) Inadequate support staff (i.e. classroom aides, social workers, counselors and academic resource people.

3) The importance of clear and consistent leadership.

i) Numerous staff and administrative turnovers in a short period of time lead to an inconsistent or non-existent vision and a weak school philosophy.

ii) Inconsistent school policies especially with regard to discipline and behavior issues.

 

Most teachers don’t seem to be resistant to change. In general, teachers seem to want clear and consistent leadership and direction, and help in solving the problems they believe they are facing.

Teachers want to be involved in school planning and improvement processes, and

want to collaborate with teachers from other buildings and districts on issues like professional development and best practices.

The team has chosen to defer answering this question until the results of the administrator interviews are compiled and evaluated.

Teachers and administrators will apply "best practices" models from top performing schools.

The board, administration, teachers and parents are mutually supportive.

Leadership emanates from all levels of the school.

Teachers have the highest expectations of their students.

Students take responsibility for their own learning.

Demographics of the public school community reflect the demographics of the town.

Teachers strive for the highest level of professional development.

 

Create family resource centers in schools via partnerships between schools and community resources that deal with a child’s needs not fully addressed by parents:

Health (dental, vision, etc.)

Nutrition (breakfast program, snack program, etc.)

Hygiene (clothing, cleanliness, etc.)

Provide deliberate and regular family outreach through building trust and providing support.

Design, implement and assess an individual stakeholder strategic plan that is consistent with the values and goals of the Initiative.

 

 

Team Leader: John McMahon/W. David Tarver*

All Team Members

*W. David Tarver succeeded John McMahon as team leader in March, 2002.

(none)

(none)

What are the long and short-term effects of the practice of "social promotion" in Red Bank schools on its children and on its schools?

Students who graduate from Red Bank Public Schools are competitive with other communities at every level.

U.S. Census 2000

NJ School Report Card Data

Red Bank Borough Schools, Red Bank Charter School documents regarding student promotion/retention policies

Discussion with teachers and administrators at Student Performance Team meetings

Red Bank Charter School charter renewal application, 2001

Red Bank Borough Schools rebuttal to Charter School renewal application, 2001

Schools policy favors promotion of all students, with early intervention for students who are not performing at grade level. The policy has not been applied consistently. Intervention methods have not been as effective as they need to be, often leading to promotion of students who are not prepared for the next grade level.

Results of state-mandated standardized tests show clearly that students from Red Bank schools are not competitive with students from the other sending districts to the regional high school (Little Silver, Shrewsbury). Test results also show that, on average, Red Bank students perform significantly below the state average.

The regional high school district is reluctant to release data that shows the performance of Red Bank students as compared to the performance of students from the other sending districts. Anecdotal evidence suggests that Red Bank children do not fare well at the regional high school, in comparison with their peers from Little Silver and Shrewsbury. Such evidence also suggests that participation by Red Bank students is much less than their peers even in non-academic areas such as sports and music programs.

Students will perform one standard deviation above the state mean on all state-mandated tests.

Students accept responsibility for their learning.

Students will learn to work collaboratively.

Students will develop a passion for learning.

 

Devise, document and maintain an improvement plan that will determine how the school system 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.

Secure and maintain strong, clear, consistent leadership for the school system.

Strengthen teaching and learning by establishing and maintaining a culture of high expectations and professionalism.

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 across the entire K-8 district, 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.

Establish and institutionalize a practice of regular communication between teachers and parents.

Devise a more effective means of intervention for under-performing students. Intervention methods should address in-classroom, out-of-classroom, and summer interventions, and should include coordination between classroom instruction and after-school and summer school learning programs.

Provide more extensive counseling resources in the school system and in the community. Community counseling resources should be coordinated with school resources.

Implement better coordination and collaboration between primary and middle school grades. In addition, the same school design or reform model should be employed throughout the K-8 grade levels. Administrators and staff should meet regularly to coordinate activities.

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.

 

 

 

 

Team Leader: Dr. Michael Rush/Charles Hughes*

All Team Members

*Charles Hughes succeeded Dr. Michael Rush as team leader in March, 2002.

Increased parental involvement in the education of their children will increase the outcomes for children.

When Red Bank children feel safe at school and at home there will be a positive impact on their learning and development.

An increase in parental expectation for their children’s success in school will result in increased student performance.

What are the educational levels achieved by parents of Red Bank school children?

How many Red Bank children live in intact families?

How many Red Bank children eat 3 well-balance meals per day?

Do Red Bank students live in housing that is sufficient for facilitating study?

Families in Red Bank are provided with the resources to raise and educate their children.

What actions can the Initiative take to get Local Businesses and Community resources involved in improving education and development of Red Bank children?

Parent survey

Parent focus groups

 

The Community Characteristics committee conducted a survey of parents who attended parent-teacher conferences in the fall of 2001. Overall 80 % of the parents surveyed were in agreement that their family has been provided most of the resources they feel are needed to enhance the development and academic opportunities of their children. Among Latino parents the rate of agreement (55%) was significantly less than that of the total surveyed population. Based on school, the agreement rates were 77% Primary School, 80% Middle School and 87% Charter School.

The top five Areas of Need most frequently cited across all school populations were:

After School activities

Fine and Performing Arts activities for children

Affordable housing

Public Transportation

Parenting Programs/Family Counseling

Among Latino parents, in addition to the above, bilingual communication services, Drug and Alcohol Counseling and Health, Dental and Vision Care Insurance, were most frequently cited.

With regard to schools, African-American and Latino focus group parents cite a lack of two-way communications with the borough schools. Latino parents also cite a lack of Spanish-speaking personnel in the schools. Both groups indicate a feeling of "us vs. them" in relation to borough schools staff. From the perspective of African American and Latino parents, increasing the number of minority educators in the schools of Red Bank, would contribute greatly to addressing some of their concerns about school-parent relations.

The Initiative seeks to have businesses other community resources:

partner to provide resources in schools (health education, cultural programs, etc.)

coordinate out-of-school activities (recreation, tutoring, mentoring, jobs, camp)

provide expertise and consultancy in areas such as program planning, public relations technology planning and implementation.

provide financial support for school and community initiatives

Help with recruiting and retention of schools staff through creative financial incentives such as assistance with relocation, affordable housing and mortgage assistance.

 

Red Bank families are provided with the resources to raise and educate their children.

Increased parental involvement in the education of their children results in increased outcomes.

 Red Bank children feel safe at school and at home and as a result demonstrate increased learning and development.

  Student performance increases as a result of increased student, parent and teacher expectations.

Local business and community resources play a vital role in providing for the education of Red Bank children.

Red Bank children are supported by quality, after-school social, educational and recreational programs.

Students who graduate from the Red Bank Schools are competitive with students from other communities at every level.

 

Engage parents in their children’s education via focus groups/discussion groups, enhanced information sharing, better accessibility of programs, ensuring affordability of programs.

Strengthen the quality of family life by: family mentors, enhanced child care services, better access to health care/health maintenance resources, effective parenting programs.

Encourage the establishment of business and college/university consortia with school systems in Red Bank and other community resources that impact on students and families.

 

 

Team Leader: Dick Pollock

All Team Members

Pre-school education and development programs are beneficial to children’s later success.

Red Bank community assets do not adequately address the education and development needs of its Hispanic families.

The Red Bank community’s "two-town" approach to provisioning it’s resources results in inadequate access for black and Hispanic families.

(none)

The competition between two public schools (Traditional and Charter) improves the effectiveness of Red Bank children.

What is the impact of participation in extra-curricular, after-school and cultural activities on minority and non-minority student education and development outcomes?

Search Institute / YMCA white paper: Our Children At Risk

Parent focus group and parent survey results (focus groups and survey conducted by ‘Community Characteristics’ team)

 

 

The Community Asset Performance team did not collect data to confirm or refute this hypothesis. Several findings did arise as a result of the team’s data-gathering effort, and these may shed some light on the issue of competition between the borough and charter schools:

The competition between the schools has been a contentious and divisive issue, especially since the Charter School was granted permission by the state board of education to expand its program. Originally, the Charter School provided grades 4-8. With the granting of the expansion request, as of September, 2002, the school will serve grades K-8. In addition, class size will grow from 16 to 18 students. In focus group sessions with non-Charter School parents, some parents expressed a belief that the Charter School unfairly takes resources that would otherwise be allocated to the Borough Schools.

The results of focus groups with Charter School parents seem to show a high degree of satisfaction with school performance, and good communications between parents and school staff. Discussions with Charter School teachers indicate a general satisfaction with school leadership.

In evaluating the focus group results, it is important to keep in mind the relative size of the Red Bank Borough Schools and the Red Bank Charter School. As of the end of the 1999-2000 school year, the Borough Schools served 678 students, and the Charter School served 82 students.

The team determined, by reviewing publicly available research, that participation in the above types of activities has a positive impact on education and development outcomes.

All Red Bank children and families will have knowledge of, access to, and willingness to embrace/use/participate in after and out of school programs, counseling, and nutritional and medical services.

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

The schools or a community resource should establish a counseling organization that will monitor the well-being of all Red Bank students in both academic and non-academic areas. Areas of concern should include school performance, recreation, cultural enrichment, and physical and mental health.

Red Bank community organizations should partner to make quality family counseling services available and accessible to all Red Bank families.

The borough and 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. A transportation resources plan should be devised to support maximum participation by children in such activities.

Community organizations should perform regular "customer satisfaction" assessments that measure participation and satisfaction of all segments of the Red Bank population. Staff should be "connected" to the community, and should be sensitive to issues different races, cultures, and economic classes.

Quality pre-school education programs should be made available to all Red Bank children.