Background

The New Jersey Department of Education is actively working to implement the NJ Standards Measurement and Resource for Teaching (NJ SMART), a comprehensive data warehouse, student level data reporting, and unique statewide student identification (SID) system.  Both Governor Corzine and the Legislature have indicated that a statewide student database to support the tracking of student academic outcomes is a crucial need.  Commissioner Davy has identified NJ SMART as the Department’s highest priority.  The steps required to develop this repository will continue to take place in phases over the next several months.

NJ SMART was initiated several years ago for three primary reasons:

1. New Jersey’s public education system must become more evidence-based where progress toward instructional goals is measured and monitored.
2. Major regulatory changes, such as the Federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), require states and districts to collect greater quantities of data to meet increasingly intensive reporting requirements.
3. NJDOE is committed to providing better information to LEAs and other stakeholders, simplifying the burdensome data reporting requirements, and increasing administrative efficiency through the use of technology.

Several important NJ SMART initiatives are occurring concurrently:

1. The state assessment data warehouse has been populated with statewide test results back to 1999;
2. The initial statewide NJ SMART data submission occurred in December 2006. Data provided by districts through this data submission were used to create unique student identification numbers (SID).  SIDs were issued to districts on March 21, 2007, and continue to be issued for students who enter the NJ public school system.   
3. All districts have been offered training on EDanalyzer, a web-based tool that allows districts to view and analyze state assessment data, as well as assessment related student demographic information that are currently in the NJ SMART data warehouse.
4. Districts will have an opportunity to create local data marts and access district-level reports during the 2008-09 School Year.

Each of these initiatives will result in important outcomes for local districts:

1. Integrated state assessment data means that districts will have access to assessment reports that will allow easy monitoring and comparison of critical performance measures;
2. With the implementation of SIDs, districts will be able to track students and their performance more effectively over time, even if they transfer in and out of districts;
3. EDanalyzer allows districts to access assessment data that are as current as the most recent data loaded into the NJ SMART data warehouse. 
4. A local data mart offers 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.  Reports will further provide districts with a user-friendly way to view and analyze student data. 

These activities combine to provide the foundation for a more comprehensive system of data reporting and student performance management for New Jersey public schools.  All districts received notification of NJ SMART in a memo from the Commissioner on August 29, 2006, and received an update on NJ SMART from the Commissioner on April 14, 2008.