Lawrence Township Schools to Share Grant Money for New Training Program

Lawrence Township, NJ -- The Lawrence Township School District is one of 15 school districts that will receive a share of $1 million in competitive grant funds for the expansion of the state’s Achievement Coaches initiative, the New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) announced on Wednesday.

The Achievement Coaches program gives outstanding teachers and administrators across the state the chance to design and deliver professional learning sessions to their peers in New Jersey. It was established last year, at which time 19 school districts selected 158 Achievement Coaches to participate in rigorous training. These educators have now led that same training with over 4,000 teachers in 60 districts.

Six school districts that participated in last year’s program will work with the NJDOE as “Training Team” districts. They will incorporate new resources and materials into refined training sessions. This will include PARCC data reports and teacher-created formative assessments, among other resources. They will split $400,000 in grant funds.

These educators also will lead the training of 13 new groups of teachers and administrators (approximately 80 educators) across nine new districts receiving Achievement Coach awards for the first time.

Lawrence Township is included in this new group, which will split $600,000 in grant funds.

The other new school districts include Delsea Regional, East Greenwich Township, Gloucester Township, Jersey City, Piscataway Township, Sayreville, Lacey Township and North Plainfield.

The returning districts include Clearview Regional, East Brunswick, Old Bridge Township, the Morris County Vocational Tech, Jackson Township and Elizabeth.

“The Achievement Coaches initiative continues to be an impactful program that allows the state to rely on the expertise and professionalism of our best New Jersey educators to support and help train other educators,” State Commissioner of Education David C. Hespe said. “We look forward to working with many returning participants, as well as the nine new districts, to make this program even more effective and far-reaching in 2016.”