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 CIT Y 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 22 Access to Technology 47 Facilities Advisory Board 11 Programs for Children with Disabilities 23 Alternative Education and Dropout 47 Progress and Challenges 12 Curriculum Prevention 47 Progress 12 Program Quality 23 K-12 Teacher Qualifi cations and 49 Challenges 12 Preschool Teacher Qualifi cations and Supports 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 CIT Y 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 CIT Y 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 CIT Y 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, orm Parity a series of indicators, the Union City Abbott K-12 education (including standards-based Ref Fu d nd se in Indicators Report presents the status of these reform and supports for students and fami- Ba g s rd reforms and student progress to date. lies), and school facilities construction. All of a d n a S The Union City Abbott Indicators Report the remedies we have in place in New Jersey t t S u d 2 e and three others we are releasing this year in are intended to work together to ensure a 1 n - t K a Camden, Newark, and Trenton are products of seamless plan for school improvement. They n d F a the Abbott Indicators Project at the Education are presented separately because they have m i l y Law Center. The report is written for a wide distinctive logics and requirements. S P r u e p audience: everyone with a stake in public edu- The indicators cover a broad range of s p c o h r o t o s cation in Union City. The project goals are to: topics about school practices and a number l n 1. Inform people in Union City about the status of student outcomes. We break down school io ct of school improvement efforts and student tru practices into six “elements of effective school- Sc ons outcomes. hool Facilities C ing.” Ultimately, maximizing opportunities for 2. Engage stakeholders in exploring and discussing what is working and what still needs to be done. students to learn is the main focus of school 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 years to come. and family supports, teacher qualifi cations and supports, budget, leadership, and school facilities. EDUCATION LAW CENTER UNION CITY ABBOTT INDICATORS SUMMARY REPORT 3 UNION CIT Y 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 ACCOUNTABILITY all of the elements of effective schooling have 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 Teachers for Students collection and analysis methodology, and a 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 CIT Y The Community and Students 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. 1 UNION CIT Y 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- Less Than High School Diploma 46% 18% dents lived below the poverty level compared 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 Bachelor’s Degree 7% 19% poverty level compared to 11 percent through- out New Jersey.