NJ Assistant Commissioner Gordon MacInnes reported on the strong gains in student achievement since 1999 by Abbott fourth graders, and outlined his current agenda for the State Department of Education in the Abbott districts.

Assistant Commissioner MacInnes, who directs the Division of Abbott Implementation in NJDOE, delivered his report in testimony before the Senate Education Committee on February 3, 2005.

Data presented by the Assistant Commissioner charts the progress made by all students in the Abbott districts on the fourth grade language arts literacy test.

Some of the points made by MacInnes in his testimony include:

• Early literacy will remain a "particular focus" of Abbott implementation
• The DOE Abbott Division will "shift from dealing with over 450 schools to the district central offices," especially to ensure districts standardize curriculum based on the NJ Core Curriculum Content Standards across schools, grades and content areas.
• DOE "is working cooperatively in about half of the Abbott districts – those with the lowest literacy rates – to help them align their curricula and demonstrate how to implement classroom practices that work."
• Work will continue to ensure "the quality of teaching is greatly improved and a high quality curriculum is implemented in all pre-k classrooms," whether operated by community providers or the school districts
• An increase in the number of English Language Learners (ELLs) in the Abbott districts requires immediate attention "to provide the trained teachers or instructional materials to give these students an effective transition to English mastery."

Prepared: February 7, 2005