The Curriculum Audit

On July 25, 2007 the final results of the Curriculum and Professional Development Audit was presented to the Hoboken Superintendent of Schools by Jim McBee- Director of Abbott Services. This report was completed in collaboration with Willa Spicer, Executive Director of the New Jersey Performance Assessment Allicance as well as the Deputy Commissioner of Education for the State of New Jersey.

The focus of the report was to document evidence pertaining to the following questions:

1) Is there a Board approved curriculum that is alligned to NJQSAC elements in exisitence for all of the subject content areas?

2) To what degree is the District's curriculum being implemented in the classroom?

3) Is the academic program supported by staff development?

4) What staff development has the district had since September 2005 and what has it cost?

(note: The report has already been requested under the Open Public Records Act, so it is available as a public document)

The general findings of the curriculum audit, questions 1 and 2 above, and the steps the district is taking to remediate the audit, is the focus of this blog.

An accurate summary of the audit was that "student success in the achievement of the NJCCCS (New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards) is the existence and everyday use of curriculum documents that guide teachers in the scope and sequence of the subject matter. The curriculum should show direct and detailed correlation tot he NJCCCS, include interdisciplinary activities and references, and contain technology references that help guide teachers to appropriate technoogy learning and use across all content areas, and assessment information with benchmarks for student success".

The audit continues, "This does not currently appear to be the case in Hoboken; however there is a timeline in place for curriculum revision taking in all subjects through 2009". The summary of the audit conludes with, "teachers in the schools seem to have done a good job of using the NJCCCS, Curriculum Frameworks, texts, and old undtated course outlines to implement a program that helps students achieve the NJCCCS. They (teachers) need the direction of a well constructed curricula that meet NJCCCS standards to help students achieve their full potential.

On July 26, 2007, the Superintendent of Schools, Mr. Jack Raslowsky, submitted and the Board of Education approved the appointment of Dr. Anthony Petrosino (www.edb.utexas.edu/petrosino) as Assistant to the Superintendent. Dr. Petrosino has been working with the district to assist in addressing the findings of the audit.