Funding Alert

Education Law Center is initiating a research study into graduation policies that could impact thousands of students and hundreds of districts throughout New Jersey. The study is designed to investigate the implications of the State Board of Education’s plans to phase out the special review assessment (SRA) as an alternate path to a high school diploma.

The Garden State boasts the highest high school graduation rates in the nation, including the best graduation rates for African American and Hispanic students (although significant gaps remain among groups of students and communities). However, nearly 15,000 students receive their diplomas through the alternative special review assessment (SRA) process instead of by passing the state graduation test, the HSPA (High School Proficiency Assessment). About 20% of all NJ graduates, and over 36% of graduates in urban Abbott districts, receive diplomas through SRA.

In August 2005, at the request of former Education Commissioner William Librera, the State Board of Education passed a resolution declaring its intention to phase out the SRA beginning with this year’s freshman class for language arts and next year’s freshman class for math. Librera and the Board cited concerns about the SRA’s rigor and reliability. However, the Board delayed finalizing this decision, pending agreement on an alternative "appeals process" to replace the current SRA. Recommendations on a new appeals process are under development by staff at the NJ Department of Education and must be submitted to the Board before final action on eliminating the SRA is taken.

Many education advocates are concerned that, despite much talk of "data-driven reform," the State Board and the NJDOE have not adequately studied some of the key issues involved in eliminating the SRA. These issues include:

the demographic characteristics and educational experience of students graduating through SRA

comparative post-school outcomes for dropouts, SRA graduates and HSPA graduates (i.e., are there outcomes for SRA graduates with respect to college participation, employment, and other indicators that are worth preserving?)

the impact of eliminating SRA on dropout and graduation rates, especially for our state’s most vulnerable students.

To investigate these issues, ELC convened a group of university researchers from Rutgers, Seton Hall and the City University of NY, representatives from several NJ districts, and other education advocates. The group has developed a multi-faceted research design, pursued funding for the study, and begun to move the project forward. It hopes to complete initial rounds of research and data analysis in a timely fashion and share the results with stakeholders and policymakers before final decisions are made on NJ high school graduation policy.

"This study is long overdue," said Stan Karp, Director of ELC’s Secondary Reform Project. "Whatever concerns we may have about the SRA, adopting policies that reduce graduation rates and increase dropout rates is not the solution, especially when such policies disproportionately affect the most vulnerable students. We need to know more about SRA students before making these decisions, and we need to connect decisions about state assessment and graduation policies to larger questions about how to promote effective high school reform."