Integrating Subject-Specific and Employability Skills in State Standards and Assessment Reform
Policy Rationale and Goals: In May 1996, the New Jersey State Board of Education adopted Core Curriculum Content Standards to form the basis for changing the delivery of curriculum, instruction, and assessment in New Jersey schools. According to the New Jersey Department of Education, "These standards and indicators define the knowledge and skills that all students are expected to acquire by the completion of their thirteen year public school education." (1998, p.1) Core Curriculum Content Standards have been adopted by the state Board in the following seven academic areas: [1] visual and performing arts, [2] comprehensive health and physical education, [3] language arts literacy, [4] mathematics, [5] science, [6] social studies, and [7] world languages.
In
addition to the subject-specific standards, New 
Jersey adopted standards
modeled in part after the employability skills identified by the 1992
Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS) report. While the
subject-specific standards committees were in the process of reviewing proposed
content standards, "certain themes reoccurred. These common themes
reinforce[d] the notion that each content area draws on key elements of other
content areas. For example, the need for students to learn problem-solving and
critical thinking skills was reflected in all of the sets of standards." (1996,
p.1)
In order to include these kinds of skills and knowledge in the changes to the state's instructional and assessment system, the New Jersey Board of Education also adopted Cross-Content Workplace Readiness Standards. These standards reflect the goals of both educating students in subject-specific knowledge and, at the same time, emphasizing the kinds of skills that more broadly reflect the competencies all students will need in order to succeed in society and the workplace. According to the Cross-Content Workplace Readiness Standards, all students in New Jersey will be able to accomplish the following:
- Develop career planning and workplace readiness skills
- Use technology, information, and other tools
- Use critical thinking, decisionmaking, and problem-solving skills
- Demonstrate self-management skills
- Apply safety principles
Unlike the subject-specific standards, the Cross-Content Workplace Readiness Standards are not broken out by grade level. Rather, New Jersey intends for schools to begin to incorporate these concepts in their programs at all grade levels with age-appropriate activities such as "positive work habits" at the K-4 level or "preparing a résumé" in high school.
Implementation Strategy: The New Jersey Department of Education is currently in the process of proposing the administrative code that, when adopted, will introduce a wide range of changes to the state's educational system. The goal outlined in the administrative code proposed in May 1998 is to phase in a new assessment system that will be fully functional by the time students graduate in 2006.
The administrative code under discussion and public review proposes a series of changes in the statewide assessment system and provides guidelines for the integration of subject-specific and Cross-Content Workplace Readiness Standards into what New Jersey terms a student's "career education."
Proposed Changes to the Assessment System: Students will be assessed with a new set of tests aligned to the state standards at grades 4, 8, and 11 - 12. New Jersey will no longer require boards of education and charter schools to administer commercial achievement tests "annually or at any particular grade level." The system will "be the assessment of record" and will combine state-administered paper-and-pencil assessments that include multiple-choice, open-ended response, and short-answer items. In addition, the New Jersey Department of Education will "develop and administer performance assessments collaboratively with districts and charter schools. These portions of the tests will be scored locally.... The department will provide... guidance and scoring rubrics to ensure measurement consistency across the state." (1998, p.3)
According to the proposed code, the revised assessment system will have multiple purposes. Results will be given to parents and students to provide individual information about student progress. Assessment results will also be used by districts and charter schools to gauge "the alignment of their curriculum and instructional strategies with the Core Curriculum Content Standards and cumulative progress indicators." In turn, the New Jersey Department of Education will use the assessment system to certify that schools and districts are "providing a thorough and efficient education for all students." (1998, p.3) Results will also be published in an annual report card providing information about educational trends to the state's taxpayers.
Proposed Career Education: According to the proposed administrative code, students will receive career awareness in kindergarten through grade 4, career exploration in grades 5 through 8, and career preparation in grades 9 through 12. Students will begin to develop individual career plans during the career exploration phase and will identify a career major before the 11th grade: "The career majors are broad clusters of programs of study that will show the relevance of the Core Curriculum Content Standards to the student's career plans." (1998, p.3) Students will also be required to complete a "structured learning experience," which includes volunteer activities, community service, paid or unpaid employment, or participation in a school-based enterprise. The structured learning experience will be documented through a contract describing the learning expectations; terms; and conditions of the experience signed by the student, the parents, and the employer.
Evolution of Strategy: The New Jersey Department of Education's current proposal for the education system grew out of recent efforts to build consensus among the governor's office, the legislature, education and workforce training agencies, business and industry, parents, and local education systems. In addition, New Jersey was one of the first eight states to receive federal funding under the School-to-Work Opportunities Act (STWOA) and had already begun to approach education reform from a systemic perspective in order to meet the state's critical need for a well-prepared workforce. According to Martha Huleatte of the Office of School-to-Career and College Initiatives, when New Jersey first submitted its request for STWOA funds, the state had already "gone to a state employment and training commission," developing a common plan for workforce development involving education, labor, human services, and commerce departments. Through the adoption of both content-specific and Cross-Content Workplace Readiness Standards, New Jersey aims to continue to "embody school-to-work elements" in state reforms. According to Huleatte, to further the integration of school-to-work elements and improve the preparation of all students, the Department of Education recognized that "education is not just for the college-bound" and is spreading that message throughout the proposed changes to the education code.
Evaluation Strategies: Over time and through the development of a state assessment system built around and aligned to content-specific and Cross-Content Workplace Readiness Standards, New Jersey intends to respond to the concerns of local educators regarding the implementation of the significant changes to the educational delivery system that has been proposed. According to Huleatte, in fact, support for these changes continues to be heard throughout the state. The "business community is greatly supportive [of the changes] and [is] becoming more vocal." Through a state Chamber of Commerce initiative called "School Counts," New Jersey employers are encouraged to ask for high school transcripts, thus supporting the state's academic and employability efforts. In addition, New Jersey has launched a public information campaign to encourage parents to become aware of the changes taking place.
New Jersey Department of Education. (1998, May 6). Proposed code for standards and assessment for student achievement. Available on-line: <http://www.state.nj.us/njded/proposed/standards.toc.htm>.
New Jersey Department of Education. (1996). Cross-content workplace readiness standards. Available on-line: <http://www.state.nj.us/njded/ccs/05cwrready.html>.
