Dive Brief:

• The New Jersey State Board of Education listened to proposals for changes to the state's science and pre-school standards. 
• Board members suggested adopting the National Research Council-recommended Next Generation Science Standards, believing it will compliment the Common Core's reading and math standards. For preschool, they want to change the standards to align to the Common Core kindergarten standards.  
• New Jersey, which opted into the Common Core in 2010, must assess and re-adopt the Common Core every five years.

Dive Insight:

New Jersey's feelings about the Common Core are unclear. Last week, the Assembly Education Committee approved a bill that will create a task force to investigate the effectiveness of the Common Core and its associated PARCC assessment. The bill also delays the use of the assessment to evaluate student achievement and teacher performance for up to two years. This delay indicates a hesitancy about the Common Core, or at the very least, a desire to be more thoughtful about the standards.

While the Assembly Education Committee's decision may appear to run counter to Thursday's proposals to align more to the Common Core, it also shows a desire to be cohesive with its expectations.  

The Next Generation Science Standards were written by 26 states (including New Jersey), and according to science coordinator Michael Heinz, they would make "explicit connections to the Common Core in English language arts and math" in addition to placing emphasis on engineering.  

While New Jersey has been big on pushing Obama-supported education measures, implementation hasn't been smooth sailing. Newark Superintendent Cami Anderson —​ who has made big strides to bring these overhauls to the city —​ has become a massive point of contention for many of the city's residents. Last month, the Newark clergy banded together to write Gov. Chris Christie about their frustration with Anderson's approach to education. Earlier this week, a number of students camped out over night at the district headquarters in protest, demanding her removal.