Commentary When the State Board of Education elected to “reform,” not eliminate, the Special Review Assessment, or SRA, in 2009, I and others who opposed this backdoor route to a diploma were disappointed. The SRA was a running joke. About 13,000 disproportionately minority students annually were using it to graduate after failing one or both [...]
By Star-Ledger Staff The STAR-LEDGER TRENTON — A year after the state revamped its alternate high school graduation exam, just 10 percent of the students who took the language arts portion earlier this year passed, while 34 percent passed the math section, according to preliminary results from the state Department of Education.
April 23, 2010 BY MAXIM ALMENAS Leonia Life Leonia — Some parents with children in the Leonia school district may not have a complete grasp of the English language, but they do recognize their children are scoring lower academically in comparison to students of other races.
February 2, 2010 By Jim Dineen and Carm Catanese centraljersey.com Urban centers of New Jersey are the sites of the most catastrophic and expensive failure in the history of education. The victims of this failure especially include the children and parents of cities like our neighboring Trenton. In addition, the rest of us are being [...]
June 21, 2009 By JAMES AHEARN The Record In a number of districts with sizable middle-class populations, 14 percent or more of the students are taking the SRA route to graduation. THE NEW Jersey Department of Education is still struggling with the Special Review Assessment. This is the alternative test that high school students take [...]
The Daily Journal And so we come again to that wonderful time of the year when high school graduations take center stage — beach balls bounce among the gowned and giddy graduates, and families sit through interminable parades of names to catch a glimpse of their adorable Seymour being handed his diploma. Of course, that [...]
June 15, 2009 Editorial The Asbury Park Press A high-school diploma should mean something. Unfortunately, in too many cases in New Jersey, it doesn’t. Students are able to graduate, even if they fail the High School Proficiency Assessment test, by taking an alternate path for graduation called the Special Review Assessment.
June 15, 2009 BY KRISTEN ALLOWAY Star-Ledger Staff Elizabeth High School students Hassan Williams and Vanessa Arias spent time in after-school classes and studying over lunch this year, a bid to graduate with the rest of their class.