Monday, September 24, 2018

Why No Public Reporting of the Most Recent QSAC Failing Score in INSTRUCTION AND PROGRAM in Hoboken?

Hoboken Board of Education Meeting
Summary: It has been approximately 15 months since the superintendent received a letter from the NJDOE informing the Hoboken Board of Education of the most recent QSAC results. The letter indicates that the district has once again failed the QSAC DPR in Instruction and Program (score below 80). It is now more than 7 years since the district last passed the QSAC DPR in Instruction and Program. The June 2017 NJDOE letter states explicitly that that Board is required to present the QSAC results to the public.

District Improvement Plan: As part of the process of failing QSAC, a district must submit a District Improvement Plan (DIP) to show how they are going to effectively address their failing QSAC scores, which the district has done. Regardless of what has been submitted by the Hoboken School District, it is clear that the Board and numerous superintendents have not been able to come up with a plan to lift the district out of QSAC failure in Instruction and Program since 2011. 

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). 

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 Board meeting agendas and televised meetings indicates the following: 

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

November 14, 2017-Results Not Reported to the Public as required
December  12, 2017- Results Not Reported to the Public as required
January 4, 2018 QSAC Results Not Reported to the Public as required 
January 16, 2018 QSAC Results Not Reported to the Public as required 

February 13, 2018- QSAC Results Not Reported to the Public as required 
March 13, 2018- QSAC Results Not Reported to the Public as required   
March 27, 2018-QSAC Results Not Reported to the Public as required   
April 10, 2018-QSAC Results Not Reported to the Public as required 
May 1, 2018-QSAC Results Not Reported to the Public as required  
May 8, 2018-QSAC Results Not Reported to the Public as required 
June 26, 2018- QSAC Results Not Reported to the Public as required 

July 24, 2018- QSAC Results Not Reported to the Public as required
August 21, 2018 QSAC Results Not Reported to the Public as required 

Notice how another Hudson County School District, the Secaucus School District, informs members of their community aboutt QSAC results: CLICK HERE FOR SECACUS QSAC RESULTS 

Notice how the Newark Public Schools inform and clearly achieve their QSAC Results and Documents: CLICK HERE FOR QSAC DOCUMENTS FOR THE NEWARK PUBLIC SCHOOLS



Clearly NJDOE believe these QSAC scores should be reported promptly to the public and some districts feel these scores should be achieved and readily available. 

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 the INSTRUCTION AND PROGRAM DPR since 2011and is very concerning. That the most recent QSAC scores have apparently not been reported in a timely fashion in compliance with QSAC regulations is very disappointing. Hopefully they will be posted and discussed soon. 

QSAC is currently going under a revision by the NJDOE. Visits will be conducted beginning in the Fall of the 2018-19 schools year across school districts in NJ. 


* 2010 QSAC scores were based largely on academic year 2008-09 while I was Assistant Superintendent 

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