NJSMART Resources and Trainings

NJ SMART Resources & Trainings

About this Site

The NJ SMART Resources & Trainings website links users to important information occurring within NJ SMART, including downloadable resources and webinar and on demand trainings available to assist you throughout the data submission process.

Maintaining Security and Policy Compliance when working with Student and Staff Data

Users are reminded that NJ SMART is a secure data transfer and reporting site. By accessing this site you acknowledge that the work completed within NJ SMART is subject to the rules and requirements of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) regarding the confidentiality of student records and the Federal Privacy Act regarding employee records collected by Federal agencies. Any suspected unauthorized use of this site should be reported immediately to NJ SMART at 800-254-0295.

Questions and Assistance

Questions about NJ SMART can be directed to the NJ SMART Help Desk by calling (800) 254-0295 or e-mailing NJSMART@pcgus.com.

Resources on FERPA and the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA)

Overview

Background

Vision and Purpose

The Department of Education's NJ Standards Measurement and Resource for Teaching (NJ SMART) is a comprehensive statewide longitudinal data system solution that serves multiple purposes: staff/student identification, data warehousing, data reporting, and analytics.

NJ SMART was initiated for three primary reasons:

New Jersey's public education system is actively invested in developing evidence based practices and solutions that measure and monitor progress towards instructional goals.
Major regulatory changes such as the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) and the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) have increased the need for states and districts to collect larger quantities and types of data to meet increasingly intensive reporting requirements.
NJDOE is committed to using technology as a means for: providing better information to LEAs and other stakeholders; for simplifying complicated data reporting requirements; and for increasing administrative efficiency.

Initiatives

Major initiatives have been completed within NJ SMART to meet ever expanding demands and expectations within the education landscape:

NJ SMART's state assessment data warehouse has been populated with statewide test results that date back to 1999.
In December 2006, NJ SMART initiated its first statewide data submission. Data provided by districts through this data submission was used to create unique student identification (SID) numbers. These SID numbers were issued to districts on March 21, 2007 and continue to be issued for students who enter the NJ public school system today.
All districts have been offered training on District Reports as well as assessment-related student demographic information currently in the NJ SMART data warehouse. Assessment data includes: state assessments (NJSLA, PARCC, NJ ASK), alternate assessments (ACCESS for ELLs, DLM), and other assessment (SAT, PSAT, AP).
As of 2009-2010, districts have the ability to create local data marts and access district-level reports during their current school year to view the amalgamated results of their submitted data in real time.
Beginning 2011-2012, NJ SMART began the collection of staff level data. Since this collection, over 260,000 unique staff member identifiers (SMID) have been assigned to staff.
The implementation of the Course Roster Submission in 2011-2012 enhanced New Jersey's statewide data system so that it could provide electronic transcripts for each student: one of the required "data assurances" under the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund agreement with the NJDOE. New Jersey's Course Roster Submission links teachers and students together through a unique course identifier.

Outcomes

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

Integrated state assessment data means that districts have regular access to assessment reports that allow easy monitoring and comparison of critical performance measures.
With the implementation of SIDs, districts are able to track students and their performance more effectively over time, even if they transfer in and out of districts.
District Reports is a robust tool that works with Local Data Mart and Official Snapshots. The District Reports tool offers the opportunity for districts to bring together data currently stored in a variety of locations into one integrated data warehouse at their discretion. This allows staff to access linked student data, generate user-friendly reports to analyze student data outside of Official reporting period timeframes, and make data informed decisions within their respective LEA.

These activities combine to provide the foundation for a more comprehensive system of data reporting and student performance management for New Jersey public schools.

eLearning Videos & Webinars

Each year, the New Jersey Department of Education provides NJ SMART trainings via webinars on a variety of topics. In addition, new supplemental eLearning videos have been created to assist in self-paced learning. Each on demand eLearning video is designed to give a high level review of each topic and should be used in conjunction with the other NJ SMART tools and resources. Please see below for the links to the eLearning videos, trainings offered, their descriptions, and how individuals may participate in trainings. For documented resources, please see the Documents for Download section below.

NJ SMART eLearning Videos

Click on the links below to access the eLearning topic:

Submissions Overview: This 5-minute video provides a detailed timeline and overview of ID Managements and Submissions collected through NJ SMART.
New User Training: This 20-minute video provides a functional overview of NJ SMART, including how to get started and how to navigate the portal to manage your LEA’s data.
District Reports: This 20-minute video provides an overview of District Reports, how data is populated within the reports, and a functional review of how to run and read District Reports.
High School Graduation Training: This 20-minute video covers how the High School graduation rate is calculated, the importance of reporting student data to NJ SMART, how to track cohort statuses, and how to submit a Graduation Appeal.
SID Management: This 6-minute video covers why student level data is collected, who and what should be reported, when official data is collected, and the uses of SID Management data.
SMID Management: This 5-minute video reviews why staff level data is collected, who and what should be reported, and when official data is collected.
Special Education Submission: This 5-minute video reviews who should be reported to the Special Education Submission and how the data works with SID Management throughout the school year.
State Assessment Registration: This 5-minute video looks at why State Assessment Registration data is being collected, who should be reported, when official data is collected, and how the Submission works with SID and SMID Management.
Course Roster Submission: This 5-minute video provides an overview of why the student and staff course data is collected, what should be reported to the submission, and how the submission works with the End of Year SID and SMID Snapshot.
Course Roster Technical: This 5-minute video covers the process of uploading and managing records to the Course Roster Submission and creating a successful link between the staff and student records.
Introduction to Student Growth Percentiles: This 12-minute video provides an overview of student growth percentiles (SGPs), how SGPs are calculated, and how to interpret SGPs for both individuals and groups.

NJ SMART Webinars

Instructions: Click on your desired registration link below to register for the online training. Pre-registration is now required and is the only method for obtaining the login details for the live training. Once on the Registration page, complete all required information in the registration form and click “Register Now”. You will then receive an email confirming your registration with a direct link to the training.

NOTE: Registrants can login/join the training beginning 10 minutes prior to the stated start time; no late registrations are allowed after that time. Please be sure to pre-register. Training sessions will end after 10 minutes if there are no attendees.

Upcoming Trainings

December

There are no scheduled webinars for this month. The weekly webinars will return in January.

Professional Development Courses

NJ SMART Professional Development

A series of Data Use (DU) Professional Development courses have been designed to introduce you to the tools of the NJ SMART data warehouse and allow you to access, analyze, and use data more effectively. Please see below for links for the Handbooks and eLearning videos for each course.

DU 101: Using District Reports

First in this series, this course will introduce you to the history and function of the NJ SMART data warehouse, details an inquiry process that will help you better understand questions that drive data access, and will help you navigate District Reports to analyze data.

DU 101: Using District Reports Handbook- This handbook accompanies the DU 101 instructor-led course, but also serves as a standalone resource for later reference as you use the NJ SMART data warehouse. The material in this handbook will provide you with the concepts and skills necessary to access and use NJ SMART District Reports. We recommend using this handbook’s instruction to help you access and analyze your own district’s data.
DU 101: Using District Reports eLearning Video- Through participation in this on demand, self-paced course, you’ll gain the tools and knowledge to be able to use an inquiry-driven approach to data analysis; to access and navigate District Reports through inquiry; and to analyze and make valid inferences from data. This course will also provide you an opportunity to review different types of Profile Reports; and to analyze data in District Reports using guided scenarios.

DU 102: Using Student Growth Percentiles

This Course is the second course in the data use series and will introduce you to New Jersey’s student growth model and help you answer questions and navigate NJ SMART to analyze this data data.

DU 101: Using District Reports is a prerequisite to this course.

DU 102: Using Student Growth Percentiles Handbook- This handbook is designed to accompany the DU 102 instructor-led course, but it can also be used as a standalone resource. The material in this course and the handbook will provide you with the concepts and skills necessary to access and use reports provided through the NJ SMART data warehouse which contain aggregate and individual student growth data.
DU 102: Using Student Growth Percentiles eLearning Video- This self-paced course will help to ensure you have the necessary foundational knowledge to support a deeper understanding of why and how we measure growth using student growth percentiles.