Education Law Center (ELC) has issued guidelines designed to assist Abbott schools and districts in planning for the new Abbott Secondary Education Initiative (ASEI).

The ELC guidelines cover:

• formation of representative planning committees
• implementation and budget planning for the 06-07 school year

The guidance has been sent to superintendents, education associations and other stakeholders.

ASEI is an outgrowth of Abbott X, and reflects the recommendations of a Court-initiated workgroup of teachers, parents and educators. It is now part of the Abbott regulations. (See N.J.A.C. 6A:10A-3.2 Secondary Education Initiatives and Appendix B, Secondary Education Standards.)

To implement ASEI, the NJ Department of Education must assist all Abbott districts to:

• Review secondary curricula and provide college preparatory level courses aligned with the NJ CCCS for all students
• Restructure large high schools and middle schools into smaller learning environments for all, including support and common planning time for teams of teachers to work with groups of students over multiple years
• Implement a system of family support and advocacy to personalize school experience for all students

Under the current schedule, districts must submit their plans to DOE by November 15th. ELC has asked Acting Commissioner Lucille Davy to extend the deadline to give schools and districts more time to plan for ASEI and other Abbott programs. ELC is awaiting a response.

For more information, contact Stan Karp, Director of ELC’s Secondary Reform Project, at 973-624-1815, ext. 42, or e-mail at skarp@edlawcenter.org.

Prepared: November 2, 2005

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