The NJ Department of Education recently released a draft schedule for CAPA (Collaborative Assessment for Planning and Achievement) visits to 79 schools across the state. The visits, which target "low-performing" Abbott schools and Title I schools identified for "corrective action" under the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), are set to begin on April 4 and to continue through May 31.

The DOE has also issued a set of objectives the CAPA process is designed to achieve. According to DOE, the targeted schools are visited by CAPA teams, which must follow a protocol of "core" indicators to evaluate different aspects of the school in terms of quality and effectiveness. After the visits, the CAPA teams draft written reports of findings and recommendations that in turn form the basis of improvement agreements and operational plans for the targeted schools – public documents designed to implement the strategies and objectives, as well as the responsibilities of the various stakeholders, as identified in the reports.

As these visits get underway, ELC urges parents, teachers, community leaders and others to get involved in the CAPA process in your school and district. Specifically, we encourage you to stay abreast of the schedule of visits to schools in your area, to monitor the status of the reviews, and to inquire into the teams’ findings and recommendations, as well as the written improvement agreements and modified plans that result.

Prepared: April 4, 2005