According to Superintendent Jan Furman, Northern Valley will undergo a performance review sometime next year.
The state Department of Education adopted rules for school performance evaluations in 2007. Under these guidelines the areas to be reviewed include operations management, instruction and program, governance, personnel and fiscal management. The statewide monitoring system, Quality Single Accountability Continuum (QSAC), will look at each of these areas in the Northern Valley district.
The last review of its kind was done three years ago, said Furman, but not by QSAC, which she said is new to the state.
That review did not reveal the need for any significant changes, she said, though she mentioned a supervisor who needed to take an additional course.
But QSAC’s review process will be different. The district will receive scores in each of the reviewed areas. The ranking ranges from scores below 52, which mandates state intervention, to those above 80, considered high performance, said Furman.
The process, explained Furman, looks at documentation in each area verifying the district’s performance. For example, in the area of budget planning QSAC is "looking to see that the district’s planning and preparation process is comprehensive," she said.
According to the state’s Web site, the area of instruction and program would be ranked on a point system for various aspects such as student performance, curriculum and instruction. The governance section is rated on such elements as ethics compliance, school board and administration collaboration and standard school board practices.
The Board of Education will decide how it wants to oversee the review process.
"Do they want to just focus on government operations and have other school and community people on the QSAC review committee or have members on all committees?" asked Furman. The board is expected to decide at the next work session meeting.
E-mail: wilde@northjersey.com or call 201-894-6706
