Manchester Schools Lauded For Graduation Portfolio Work

MANCHESTER, NJ — In the controversies surrounding the PARCC testing, one of the questions has been about what options exist for kids who fail to achieve a "passing" score on the assessment test.

For high school seniors who are expecting to graduate but have not passed the testing in math or English through the Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, a portfolio appeal process is in place. It requires a number of steps to certify that a student who does not have a qualifying score should be awarded a high school diploma.

The portfolio appeals process originated in 2015 for students who graduated in 2016, Diane Pedroza, the director of curriculum for the Manchester Township School District, said recently. And it was a team from the Manchester Township School District who led the efforts to set up a workable process in Ocean County.

The district’s PARCC Portfolio Appeals Team recently was awarded a “Certificate of Extra Mile” by Department of Education Commission Kimberly Harrington for the efforts that the state said “paved the way for thousands of students to receive their high school diplomas."

Pedroza said it was Superintendent David Trethaway who suggested Manchester take the lead on Ocean County's efforts to create assessments that allow students to demonstrate they had acquired the math and English skills necessary to graduate.

The Manchester team presented the graduation requirement and discussed them with Ocean County administrators at the Ocean County Supervisors of Instruction meeting, Pedroza said. Manchester then hosted work sessions with representatives from districts all over Ocean County to create English and math assessments. Those materials were made accessible to districts that were unable to attend as well as those in attendance, she said.

Pedroza said the Manchester team worked closely with the state Department of Education and took feedback from the state to revise the assessments. Once finalized, Manchester High School teachers, high school administrators and the curriculum department met to devise a system to keep track of student assessments and state paperwork submission. Teachers administered the assessments to students on an ongoing basis, graded them, and submitted the required paperwork to the Manchester Guidance Department, she said.

The team then reviewed, packaged, and hand-delivered the appeals to the Ocean County Superintendent’s Office for review. Finally, the county superintendent informed the district as to whether students met the graduation requirements and would graduate from high school.

The assessments, for students who had not met graduation requirements through the ACT, PSAT, PARCC, ASVAB, SAT, or Accuplacer tests, have allowed 13 Manchester students to receive their high school diplomas, Pedroza said.

Pedroza and Manchester Township High School Principal Dennis Adams said the PARCC Portfolio Appeals team included Rachel Singer, Jennifer Ansbach, Gerard O’Donnell, Liz Yates, Shannon Findlow, MaryEllen Fecanin, Kathleen Solan, Amanda Bean, Lauren Riggs White, Lisa Tarver, Maryann Adams, Dennis Adams, Stacie Ferrara, Maureen Moore, Linda Saraceno, and Tracey Raimondo.

Manchester Board of Education President Donald Webster Jr., Manchester High School Principal Dennis Adams, Superintendent David Trethaway, and Director of Curriculum Diane Pedroza at the November school board meeting. Photo by Lee Bruzaitis, Manchester Township Schools public information officer