New Heights, New Goals for NJ's "Future Ready" Schools at Workshop 2018

Last month, New Jersey educators and stakeholders met at the Atlantic City Convention Center for New Jersey School Boards Association’s “Workshop 2018” — the state’s largest annual professional development conference for school leaders. The conference staged a record turnout of “Future Ready” certified schools and districts improving digital education practices and resources for New Jersey students.

At the convention, Future Ready Schools - New Jersey (FRS-NJ) — New Jersey’s leading initiative to promote digital learning throughout its elementary and secondary public schools — announced it awarded 139 schools from 44 districts bronze or silver tier certification for their efforts toward expanding digital education practices at the close of the program’s 2018 certification cycle.

The turnout by FRS-NJ-certified schools and districts reflects a growing statewide trend in participation by educators seeking to extend student learning through the use of technology, digital content and media supported through the state certification program. The certification figures more than double those from Workshop 2017, in which 63 schools from 20 districts were certified.   

“The number of schools, districts and educators at the conference and that have become really passionate and involved with this program’s mission is pretty overwhelming to be honest,” said Jeremy Reich, FRS-NJ program coordinator at NJIT. “It is amazing to see these schools and districts take the resources and guidance that FRS-NJ provides and use it for their progress for collaborating and creating students who are ready for their futures as digital citizens.” 

In order for FRS-NJ certification eligibility, school districts must commit to signing a national “Future Ready Pledge", as well as establish collaborative “Future Ready Teams” — or self-assessment teams that determine how they plan to support the use of technology to personalize student learning based on FRS-NJ’s “Indicators of Future Readiness”.

By successfully performing the self-assessment and meeting FRS-NJ’s indicator-based requirements, schools are eligible for an initial bronze tier of certification. This year, 104 schools from 38 districts achieved this level of certification. 

“These schools and districts have made the commitment to work together to understand where they are in terms of digital education, where they want to go, and learn how they can best get there in order to better prepare their students for their futures,” said James Lipuma, director of the Collaborative for Leadership Education, and Assessment Research at NJIT. “They all want to help students and make their schools better, and at the heart of the FRS-NJ program is the goal of creating a space for that to happen.”

“I would say this highlights a statewide culture of commitment and progress toward digital education for students and educators,” added Reich. “For teams to come together and commit themselves at a district and school level isn’t easy. The amount of schools that have shown this kind of long-term commitment and desire to provide the best education and preparation for their students makes this culture very apparent.” 

FRS-NJ’s certification ceremony at Workshop 2018 also featured the announcement of the launch of the program’s new silver tier certification — the next step for FRS-NJ schools that have progressed their Future Ready efforts beyond the program’s bronze tier performance indicators. This year, 35 schools from six districts reached the inaugural cohort of Silver Tier certified schools.

Other major announcements by FRS-NJ included 2019 plans for launch of its new professional development and small grants programs, which will aim to provide further educator’s training and digital resources to schools in the program.

“I am very optimistic for the coming year, we're already starting to new schools and districts joining the community since the excitement at Workshop 2018,” said Reich. “NJIT has also recently agreed to continue its involvement with the program through 2021, and I think that’s another huge affirmation that the program is having a great impact throughout New Jersey. Overall, I am really excited to see the program’s greatest potential really start to show itself, and with key additions like the small grants and professional development programs to assist schools, I think we are well on the way.”