ERIC ED504891: Tracking Progress, Engaging Communities: Abbott Indicators Summary Report--Union City, New Jersey

2005·2.3 MB·English

by  ERIC

tracking progress engaging communities
Abbott Indicators Summary Report
Union City
new jersey
EDUCATION LAW CENTER

SPRING 2005
tracking progress engaging communities
Abbott Indicators Summary Report
Union City
new jersey
EDUCATION LAW CENTER
UNION CITY
Contents
1 Introduction 17 3. K-12 Education 34 Student Achievement
2 Union City Abbott Indicators Project 18 Abbott Overview 41 High School Completion
and Report 18 Opportunities for Students to Learn 42 Routes to Graduation
18 Class Size
5 1. The Community and Students 18 Programs for Children with Disabilities 45 4. School Facilities Construction
19 College Preparatory Classes 46 Abbott Overview
9 2. The Preschool Program 20 Student and Family Supports 46 The First-Round Long-Range
10 Abbott Overview 20 Early Literacy Facilities Plans
10 Opportunities for Students to Learn 21 Parent Involvement 47 Leadership
10 Program Enrollment 47 Facilities Advisory Board
22 Access to Technology
11 Programs for Children with Disabilities 47 Progress and Challenges
23 Alternative Education and Dropout
12 Curriculum Prevention 47 Progress
12 Program Quality 23 K-12 Teacher Qualifi cations and 49 Challenges
Supports
12 Preschool Teacher Qualifi cations and
Supports 23 Highly Qualifi ed Teachers 50 Next Steps for Education Stakeholders
12 Educational Attainment of Preschool 25 Staffi ng Patterns
Teachers
25 K-12 Budget 51 Appendices
13 Preschool Teacher Certifi cation 25 General Education Funding
52 Abbott Indicators List
13 Preschool Teacher Salary 27 Supplemental Programs Funding
56 District and Community Reviewer
14 Preschool Budget 28 K-12 Leadership Letters
15 Preschool Leadership 28 School Leadership Councils 58 Acknowledgements
15 Preschool Student Outcomes 30 Abbott Advisory Council 61 About The Education Law Center
30 K-12 Student Outcomes
31 Student Attendance
31 Child and Youth Well-Being
33 School Safety

ii TRACKING PROGRESS, ENGAGING COMMUNITIES EDUCATION LAW CENTER
UNION CITY
Introduction
Public education helps today’s children prepare for an
adulthood when they can take meaningful roles in soci-
ety, compete in the labor market, and contribute as
members of their communities. New Jersey’s children
and youth have a constitutional right to a “thorough and
effi cient” free public education.
This represents our state’s promise to all children and
youth that they will receive an education that at least
equips them with knowledge and skills to meet the state’s
rigorous academic standards. Until all of New Jersey’s
children receive the same high-quality education, this
constitutional promise is not realized.
UNION CITY
Introduction
Several years ago, education stakeholders We wrote this report with Union City’s edu-
recognized that children did not receive the cation stakeholders in mind. The report is a tool
same education throughout our state. Urban to help them identify and support what is work-
and suburban school districts did not have ing and ensure that remaining challenges are
the same resources to support their schools. overcome. The goal of an equally sound educa-
Thanks to the efforts of education profession- tion for all New Jersey students is reachable with
als, parents, advocates, and the legislature, the their continued support and commitment.
lowest income cities and the wealthiest suburbs
now have the same funding to support general
Union City Abbott Indicators Project
education. The poorest urban school districts
and Report
are also required to undergo a series of reforms
and improvements to ensure that the funds are Union City is one of 31 urban school districts
used to fulfi ll the constitutional promise. in New Jersey known as Abbott districts. The
Who should support these reforms and name comes from a series of lawsuits, col-
ensure that the schools continue to improve? lectively known as Abbott v. Burke, in which the
Everyone who cares about public education. New Jersey Supreme Court directed the state
Schools belong fi rst to the community and to implement a series of interlocking remedies
everyone in the community has a stake in designed to provide children with a thorough
them. Parents want their children to have the and effi cient education.1
best education possible. Homeowners and As an Abbott district, Union City receives
businesses support public education through funding to equalize its per student general
taxes. Community members want to be sure education budget with the most successful
that their collective investment is used wisely suburban school districts in the state. Union
and effectively to educate the children. City’s young people are also entitled to uni-
versal, high-quality preschool; reforms to
2 TRACKING PROGRESS, ENGAGING COMMUNITIES EDUCATION LAW CENTER
UNION CITY
Introduction
help them meet the state’s rigorous standards This is a summary version of the full Union
figure A
for academic achievement in Kindergarten City Abbott Indicators Report. In it, we fi rst
through Grade 12; safe, healthy, and educa- list indicators about Union City as a com- Abbott v. Burke: New Jersey’s Framework
for Urban School Improvement
tionally adequate school facilities; and many munity and the students who are enrolled in
other programs and services to ensure that the public schools. The remaining fi ndings
they come to school ready to learn. Through are organized by Abbott remedy: preschool,
aIn sdeirciaetso orfs iRnedpicoartto prrse, sthene tUs nthioen s tCaittuys A obf bthoetts e Kre-f1o2r med auncdat siounp p(oinrctslu fdorin sgtu sdtaenndtsa radnsd- fbaamseid- ds Based R e form Parity Funding
reforms and student progress to date. lies), and school facilities construction. All of ar
d
n
The Union City Abbott Indicators Report the remedies we have in place in New Jersey ta
S S
and three others we are releasing this year in are intended to work together to ensure a 12 tud
Camden, Newark, and Trenton are products of seamless plan for school improvement. They K- ent a
n
d
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cation in Union City. The project goals are to: topics about school practices and a number hool str
1. ooInfuf tosccromhmo poeels oi.mplper ionv Uemnieonnt Ceiftfyo ratbso auntd t shteu sdteanttu s opfr asctutidceens ti notuot csoixm “eesl.e Wmee nbtrse oafk e dfofewcnti vsceh socohlo ol- School Facilities Construction
ing.” Ultimately, maximizing opportunities for
2. Engage stakeholders in exploring and discussing
students to learn is the main focus of school
what is working and what still needs to be done.
3. Develop and put a plan into action that sup- improvement efforts. Other elements of effec-
ports school improvement. tive schooling2 are needed to provide students
4. Establish a system of accountability practices
with these opportunities. These are: student
that local education stakeholders can use in
and family supports, teacher qualifi cations and
years to come.
supports, budget, leadership, and school facilities.
EDUCATION LAW CENTER UNION CITY ABBOTT INDICATORS SUMMARY REPORT 3
UNION CITY
Introduction
Academic progress and student well-be-
figure B
ing are the end products of all of the elements
Elements of Effective Schooling of effective schooling. We encourage readers
to view student outcomes in light of how well
all of the elements of effective schooling have
ACCOUNTABILITY
been implemented.
School Facilities In the full technical report (available at
www.edlawcenter.org), the fi ndings from
COMMUNITY CONTEXT the full set of more than one hundred fi fty
indicators are presented with fi gures and
Budget
more detailed discussion. We refer readers
of this report to the technical report appen-
dices for data sources and defi nitions, data
Teachers and Opportunities
Student collection and analysis methodology, and a
Teachers for Students
Outcomes
Supports to Learn glossary of terms.
Student and
Family Supports Endnotes
1. More information about 2. We thank Fred Frelow of
Abbott v. Burke is available at the Rockefeller Foundation for
www.edlawcenter.org. suggesting this approach.
Leadership
4 TRACKING PROGRESS, ENGAGING COMMUNITIES EDUCATION LAW CENTER
UNION CITY
The Community and Students
1
Research shows that living in concentrated poverty neg-
atively affects the well-being and academic performance
of children and youth. If our schools are to help all stu-
dents meet the state’s academic standards and grow up
to take meaningful roles in their communities, these
effects will need to be countered.
UNION CITY
1
The Community and Students
Here, we present indicators of community
figure 1.1
distress that inform the elements of effective
Conditions of Living and Learning in Union City schooling:
Union City is the most densely populated city
in New Jersey, with a land area just over one
New square mile and a population of about 67,000.
Municipal Characteristics Union City Jersey
At 12 percent in 2000, the unemployment rate
Population 67,088 8,414,350
is almost twice as high in Union City as it was
Female Head of Household Families With Children 17 and Under 30% 18% statewide.
Highest Educational Attainment of Adults 25 and Over In 2000, more than one in fi ve Union City resi-
dents lived below the poverty level compared
Less Than High School Diploma 46% 18%
to eight percent of residents statewide. That
Diploma or GED 25% 29%
same year, more than one in four children in
Some College 17% 23% Union City lived in families earning below the
poverty level compared to 11 percent through-
Bachelor’s Degree 7% 19%
out New Jersey.
Graduate or Professional Degree 5% 11%
In 2002, the violent crime rate was slightly
Labor Force Participation 57% 64%
higher in Union City than it was throughout
Unemployment Rate 12% 6% the state.
Median Household Income $30,642 $55,146 The students who attend the public schools
Population Below Poverty Level 21% 8%
refl ect the families who live in Union City.
Population 17 and Under Below Poverty Level 28% 11%
Their unique characteristics must inform the
Foreign-born 59% 18%
educational content, the staff needed to teach
Rent-income Ratio 28% 26%
and support teaching, the space and facilities
Renter-occupied Housing 82% 34%
in which teaching and learning occur, and
Vacant Housing 4% 7%
the leadership that guides the whole educa-
Violent Crime Rate (Per 1,000) 4.6 3.8
tional process. Programs that meet the needs
source Uniform Crime Report, 2002; 2000 US Census
of Union City’s children and youth—such as
6 TRACKING PROGRESS, ENGAGING COMMUNITIES EDUCATION LAW CENTER