*Announcement* Throughout the NJ SMART initiative, feedback from districts and charters has been gathered in an effort to improve the process and software used to implement NJ SMART.  Based on this feedback, NJ SMART 2.0 will be released on June 2, 2008.

In order to give an opportunity to ask any preliminary questions about the new system, NJ SMART will be hosting conference calls for districts and charters on April 22nd at 10 AM and April 29th at 2 PM.  A separate call specifically for SIS Vendors will be held April 23rd at 10:00 AM.  Information on how to attend these conference calls have been emailed to all current NJ SMART users and SIS Vendors.  Further information on NJ SMART 2.0 can be found on the State Data Submission and SIDs pages.

NJ Standards Measurement and Resource for Teaching (NJ SMART), is a comprehensive data warehouse, student level data reporting, and unique statewide student identification (SID) system.  Governor Corzine, the Legislature, and Commissioner Davy have indicated that a statewide student database to support the tracking of student academic outcomes is a crucial need as well as a top priority for New Jersey.   NJ SMART is the Department of Education’s highest priority.

NJ SMART will result in important outcomes for local districts:

1. Integrated state assessment data, providing districts with access to assessment reports that will allow easy monitoring and comparison of critical performance measures;
2. Unique student identification numbers (SID), which were issued to districts on March 21, 2007, will allow students and their performance to be tracked more effectively over time, even as students transfer in and out of districts;
3. Local data marts, which will offer the opportunity for districts to bring together data that are currently stored in a variety of locations, into one integrated data warehouse, allowing staff to access linked student data.

In an effort to support Districts in this initiative, the NJ Department of Education is providing many resources, including documents available for download; an extensive list of frequently asked questions; and Help Desk assistance.

In addition, EDanalyzer, a web-based tool that allows districts and charters to view and analyze state assessment data, as well as assessment related student demographic information that are currently in the NJ SMART data warehouse, is being offered to all district and charters. EDanalyzer will be an important tool to use data and assess student performance in order to make evidence-based decisions about teaching and instruction.

Should you have any questions about NJ SMART, please contact the NJ SMART Help Desk by calling 1-800-254-0295 or emailing njsmart@pcgus.com.