Practices - About the Framework - Best Practices - New Jersey

About the Practices

Recognition, Intervention, and Adjustment

Recognize, intervene, or adjust based on school performance

Recognize, intervene, or adjust based on teacher performance

Recognize, intervene, or adjust based on student performance

Monitoring: Compilation, Analysis, and Use of Data

Develop student assessment and data monitoring systems to monitor school performance

Monitor teacher performance and student learning

Monitor student learning

Instructional Programs, Practices, and Arrangements

Provide evidence-based instructional programs

Ensure the use of evidence-based programs, practices, and arrangements in every classroom

Use evidence-based programs, practices, and arrangements

Staff Selection, Leadership, and Capacity Building

Provide strong leaders, highly qualified teachers, and aligned professional development

Select, develop, and allocate staff based on student learning

Collaborate in grade level/subject teams focused on student learning

Student Learning: Expectations and Goals

Provide clear, prioritized academic objectives by grade and subject that all students are expected to master

Implement the district's written curriculum and ensure that all students achieve specific academic goals

Ensure the district's written curriculum is taught to and mastered by all students

The Practices make up the primary content of The Framework, but we ask you to think about the term "practice" in a new way. In The Framework, practice refers not to specific instructional issues such as which reading program to buy, whether to allow calculators in mathematics classes, or how best to teach English language learners to divide fractions. Scientifically based evaluation research is better suited for answering those types of questions. When we use the term, we are referring to the broad principles of a school system's work that are most directly related to teaching and learning.

Every activity undertaken by a school district relates in some way to student learning, but The Best Practice Framework does not attempt to include everything that school systems do. Certain levels of a school system have more activities located "outside" The Framework than others. For example, district activities that are fundamental instructional tasks are described in The Framework, while other required activities (such as maintaining relationships with the community or school board) are not discussed. Teachers at the classroom level, on the other hand, are deeply involved in the instructional program of the school but still may take on some activities, such as sponsoring extracurricular activities, that fall outside The Framework. However, the activities that relate only indirectly to instruction are not therefore less important; in fact, such pursuits serve critical support roles. There may well be a "best" way to run food services or a transportation system, but those administrative and support functions are not the focus of The Best Practice Framework.

Discerning the basis for our choosing which activities to include in The Best Practice Framework is critical to understanding its value. The Framework is not a theoretical creation; rather, it presents the findings of more than five years of study in schools with demonstrated performance. The Framework rests on the Just for the Kids study of nearly 500 school systems across the state and nation. Only activities that were found to distinguish Consistently Higher Performing Schools from average-performing schools are included in The Framework. In some cases, elements of the practices may have been present in some average-performing schools, but the degree to which the practice is developed and institutionalized leads to differences in student achievement.

National Center for Educational Achievement / Just for the Kids

New Jersey

New Jersey Affiliate

About the Practices