Hoboken School District Fails to Satisfy QSAC DPR for Instruction and Program for 7th Straight Year- Significant Lapse in Reporting Results to the Public

Brandt School - Hoboken, NJ

Summary: It has been approximately 7 months since the Hoboken School District received their latest QSAC placements and results still have not been widely reported to the public. The district failed the QSAC DPR in Instruction and Program for the 7th straight year.

Background: New Jersey districts must all undergo the Quality Single Accountability Continuum (QSAC). NJDOE staff review documents and analyze district performance against critical indicators in 5 QSAC areas. One of those areas, and I argue the most important, is INSTRUCTION AND PROGRAM. A score of 80% is seen as satisfying weighted indicators. While I was Assistant Superintendent, we were able to raise the QSAC score in INSTRUCTION AND PROGRAM from an initial score of 34% (a few months after we took over) to a high of 87%* in 2010 (after the HBOE approved the revised curriculum and the results of the 2009 state test scores were analyzed). 
* 2010 QSAC scores were based largely on academic year 2008-09 while I was Assistant Superintendent
However, after the 87% score in INSTRUCTION AND PROGRAM in April of 2010, the Hoboken School District has scored below 80% (failed) each year in the INSTRUCTION AND PROGRAM DPR (the district has passed the other 4 DPRs)

Perhaps more interesting is if you read the June 20, 2017 placement letter (below) you will read the following directly below the results: 

“Please be advised that QSAC regulations require your board of education to report these placement results at the next regularly scheduled board meeting.”  -June 20, 2017 NJDOE letter to the Superintendent

The first Hoboken Board of Education meeting after the placement letter was received was on June 27, 2017. A review of meeting agendas and televised meetings indicates the following: 

June 27, 2017- QSAC Results Not Presented to the Public as required    
July 25, 2017- QSAC Results Not Presented to the Public as required   
August 22, 2017- QSAC Results Not Presented to the Public as required  
September 12, 2017- QSAC Results Not Presented to the Public as required   
October 10, 2017- QSAC Results Not Presented to the Public as required 

The NJDOE believes these scores should be reported promptly to the public. This link shows that the scores have been available to the public since at least mid July 2017: The QSAC letter below has been available from the State of New Jersey since Summer 2017.

INSTRUCTION AND PROGRAM is, in my opinion, the single most important and critical DPR for a New Jersey School District. That the Hoboken School District has failed this the INSTRUCTION AND PROGRAM DPR for 7 straight years is very concerning. That these scores are not being reported in a timely fashion in compliance with QSAC regulations is very disappointing. 

   QSAC_IandP_HobJune202017 by Anthony Petrosino on Scribd