New Jersey-2010-A3436-Introduced

An Act establishing a Core Curriculum Content Standards Advisory Council and supplementing chapter 35 of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. a. The Commissioner of Education, in consultation with the State Board of Education, shall appoint a Core Curriculum Content Standards Advisory Council to assist and advise the State board in the ongoing review of core curriculum content standards.

b. The advisory council shall consist of 15 members chosen from among the K-12 education, higher education, and business communities and shall also include a parent representative. The advisory council shall include among its members: at least one curriculum director with expertise in curriculum and standards issues from the K-12 education community; at least one professor of education employed by a four-year institution of higher education; at least one professor with a Ph.D. in an academic content area employed by a four-year institution of higher education; and at least one professor employed by a county college. Each member shall be appointed for a five-year term and shall be limited to serving two terms. The members shall serve without compensation, but shall be reimbursed for necessary expenditures incurred in the performance of their duties as members of the council.

c. The advisory council members appointed pursuant to subsection b. of this section and the subcommittee members appointed pursuant to section 2 of this act shall not have personal conflicts of interest with regard to actions taken by the council. No member shall derive a direct monetary gain or loss from actions taken by the council. Council members are prohibited from participating in any action of the council in which they have a personal interest. All potential and current conflicts of interest shall be publicly disclosed in writing annually.

d. The council shall organize as soon as may be practicable after the appointment of its members and shall choose a chairperson from among its members and shall appoint a secretary who need not be a member of the council.

e. The Department of Education shall provide such stenographic, clerical and other administrative assistants, and such professional staff, as the council requires to carry out its work. The council shall also be entitled to call to its assistance and avail itself of the services of the employees of any State, county or municipal department, board, bureau, commission or agency as it may require and as may be available for its purposes.

f. The council, and any subcommittee appointed by the council, shall keep minutes of its meetings and shall make such minutes available to the public via Internet posting.

2. a. The Core Curriculum Content Standards Advisory Council shall establish a subcommittee for each of the subject areas of the core curriculum content standards. Each subcommittee shall include among its members: teachers employed by a public school district (K-5 Elementary Certified, 6-8 Content Area Certified, 9-12 Content Area Certified); a professor of education employed by a four-year institution of higher education; a professor with a Ph.D. in the specific academic content area employed by a four-year institution of higher education; a professor employed by a county college in that specific academic content area; a representative from a business specifically related to that specific content area; a parent of a student enrolled in a public school; and a student representative who is a current high school student or a recent high school graduate. A member of the Core Curriculum Content Standards Advisory Council also may serve as a member of a subcommittee.

b. Each subcommittee shall review the existing standards for its subject area to ensure that they contain clarity, rigor, content, depth, and coherence. The subcommittee shall:

(1) review relevant research on the subject area and identify areas in the standards where revision is appropriate;

(2) examine curriculum standards for the subject area adopted by other states, countries, and entities;

(3) collect feedback on the existing State standards from teachers, parents, and other stakeholders through the development of an online survey and make feedback available to the public via Internet posting;

(4) solicit feedback from appropriate content related professional organizations, associations, and societies; and

(5) write a report detailing the strengths and weaknesses of the standards.

c. The subcommittee shall revise the standards to reflect its findings from the research conducted pursuant to subsection b. of this section. In lieu of revisions, a subcommittee may recommend the adoption of a highly-regarded set of standards from another state or country or by working with a consortium of states to revise and develop a set of standards.

d. The subcommittee, through the Department of Education, shall provide an electronic copy of the revised standards to each school district and shall make such revised standards available to the public via Internet posting. Each school district shall notify parents or guardians of its students that the Core Curriculum Content Standards are being revised and that there is an opportunity to provide feedback. The subcommittee, through the department, shall provide an electronic copy of the revised standards to the relevant department head of each institution of higher education in the State. A public comment period of at least 60 days shall be provided. The subcommittee shall conduct at least one public hearing for the purpose of permitting the public to comment on the rigor, clarity, and reasonableness of the standards developed by the subcommittee. The standards shall be revised as appropriate.

e. The subcommittee shall submit the revised standards to the advisory council for its review and approval.

f. The process established pursuant to this section shall be adhered to for all revisions to the Core Curriculum Content Standards.

3. Upon the receipt of revised standards from a subcommittee, the Core Curriculum Content Standards Advisory Council shall review and finalize the standards before forwarding them to the Commissioner of Education for consideration and adoption by the State Board of Education. The Commissioner of Education may submit standards to the State Board of Education that are different than those submitted by the Core Curriculum Content Standards Advisory Council, along with a written justification and explanation of any changes that were made. The written justification shall be made available to the public.

4. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

Under this bill, the Commissioner of Education, in consultation with the State Board of Education, is directed to appoint a Core Curriculum Content Standards Advisory Council to assist and advise the State Board in the ongoing review of core curriculum content standards. The advisory council will consist of 15 members chosen from among the K-12 education, higher education, and business communities and shall also include student and parent representatives. The bill directs the Core Curriculum Content Standards Advisory Council to establish a subcommittee for each of the subject areas of the core curriculum content standards.

The bill directs each subcommittee to review the existing standards for its subject area. Under the bill, the subcommittee will:

(1) review relevant research on the subject area and identify areas in the standards where revision is appropriate;

(2) examine curriculum standards for the subject area adopted by other states, countries, and entities;

(4) solicit feedback from appropriate content related professional organizations, associations, and societies; and

(5) write a report detailing the strengths and weaknesses of the standards.

Under the bill, each subcommittee will revise the standards to reflect its research findings. In lieu of revisions, a subcommittee may recommend the adoption of a highly-regarded set of standards from another state or country or by working with a consortium of states to revise and develop a set of standards. The subcommittee will then submit the revised standards to the Core Curriculum Content Standards Advisory Council for its review and approval. Upon the receipt of revised standards from a subcommittee, the Core Curriculum Content Standards Advisory Council will review and finalize the standards before forwarding them to the Commissioner of Education for consideration and adoption by the State Board of Education. The Commissioner of Education may submit standards to the State Board of Education that are different than those submitted by the Core Curriculum Content Standards Advisory Council, along with a written justification and explanation of any changes that were made.