Help with understanding school report cards

Report card season has arrived for New Jersey’s education standards. Depending upon who you ask, the state’s grades range from above average to well below.

New Jersey United for Higher School Standards believes that while the opinions of experts at national research groups are valuable, more important is that the students, parents, teachers, administrators and community members at the heart of the education process here in our state understand the standards, and how they are being implemented in our schools.

Our organization is committed to providing information and fostering open communication on key issues such as the quality of our state’s standards. We accomplish this goal through our community meeting program, which provides school districts the opportunity to co-host a forum for discussion with us at no cost.

We created this program because we have learned, through research and outreach, that involved communities with a solid understanding of key education issues create better outcomes for all students. And, the best way to encourage involvement and understanding is by fostering an open exchange of ideas, questions, and learning opportunities for the residents of our state — in other words, getting input from all sides of the education debate.

Working together, we can make sure that the final grade given to New Jersey education is something of which we can all be proud.

Certainly, our state’s students deserve our best efforts.

To find out more about New Jersey United and our community meeting program, visit us online at www.new

jerseyunited.org or call 888-694-9900.

Mary O’Malley

executive director

New Jersey United for Higher

School Standards

Livingston