NJASA

An Introduction

The Partnership for Collaborative Professional Learning consists of a group of major education organizations with the common purpose of advancing teaching and learning by focusing on the implementation of best practices through ongoing professional development. The Partnership is committed to communicating a vision of higher levels of learning for students and staff with the tools and supports necessary to do so.

Members of the Partnership include the NJ State Department of Education (NJDOE), the NJ Association of School Administrators (NJASA), NJ Education Association (NJEA), NJ School Boards Association (NJSBA), NJ Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (NJACTE), NJ Principals & Supervisors Association/Foundation for Educational Administration (NJPSA/FEA), Learning Forward New Jersey, the Education Information Resource Center (EIRC), and, of course, the NJ Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development (NJASCD). These organizations join in the belief that teaching is at the center of our profession and hold the mindset of shared responsibility for success. Job-embedded collaboration enables group contributions and individual strengths to come together to form and deliver a powerful message. Articulation among the organizations and their constituent groups models collaboration and common beliefs, and validates our work.

From teacher preparation through one’s career as a professional, each of us is on a continuum of progress that requires ongoing professional learning that makes connections to district and school priorities. To advance from solely meeting requirements (compliance) to becoming engaged in dialogue around effective practice is essential to transform teaching and learning structures.

The NJ Department of Education, in collaboration with the Partnership, embraces a vision of engaging in deeper conversations about teaching and learning – focusing not on the compliance elements of reforms but rather focusing on the implementation of best practices through job-embedded, collaborative professional learning. For this to occur, The Department of Education and the NJ Principals & Supervisors Association have created Online Blended Learning Modules, based on the Connected Action Roadmap, to provide tools and resources to  practitioners.

In support, New Jersey ASCD is pleased to dedicate a series of issues of The Front Page, an e-publication, to the theme Changing the Conversation: from Compliance to Practice. Understanding the process for enriched conversations about accessing and using best practices to achieve goals is the purpose of these issues. The titles of the issues will be:

The demands of our profession are ever-changing and require educators to be informed and innovative, forward-thinking and generative. These roles are best accomplished in a collaborative fashion. Perhaps Kenneth Blanchard said it best when he wrote:

. . . On collaboration ~ “A clear purpose will unite you as you move forward, values will guide your behavior, and goals will focus your energy.”

The Partnership is united by purpose, guided by values, and focused on goals. We invite you to participate in the discussions that will inevitably occur as a result.

Let the conversation begin!