the workforce

Welcome to the Workforce Pipeline, an e-newsletter developed by the Business Coalition for Educational Excellence (BCEE) at the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce for professionals in education who are developing our future workforce. The BCEE is pleased to partner with all of the dedicated people in New Jersey who are developing our most important asset: our children.

We plan on publishing Workforce Pipeline four times a year. We hope you’ll find it to be a valuable tool in your day-to-day work.

The BCEE is committed to ensuring that all students achieve at high levels, become productive citizens, and are well-prepared to succeed in the workplace. During the last eight years, we’ve had the privilege of working with many schools to achieve those goals. We look forward to expanding our relationships with schools for many years to come.

Welcome again to our first issue of the Workforce Pipeline!

Are you thinking ‘high school restructuring’ but need your middle and high school students and their parents

• to get serious about their studies?

• to expect two hours of homework a night?

• to understand that 84% of the jobs that will be available in fifteen years will require a college degree?

We can help with New Jersey Scholars, a communications campaign that encourages students to ‘Choose the Right Course’ with rigorous college-prep courses in high school. As part of the New Jersey Scholars campaign, representatives from the business community offer afternoon and evening presentations to parents and students, online curriculum and homework assignments for students, posters, brochures, and activities that will create a ‘buzz’ about high expectations for all students, whether they are headed for college or the workplace.

For more information, contact Donna Custard at the BCEE, 609-989-7888, extension 120 or Kate Brittain, extension 126. You can learn more about the program at the following websites:

Fresh evidence is emerging that students of National Board Certified Teachers® (NBCTs) learn more than students whose teachers do not hold this prestigious credential. Research findings were announced just as The Business Coalition for Educational Excellence at the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce begins its annual drive to increase the numbers of teachers who apply for the credential and who complete the rigorous evaluation process.

National Board Certification is a voluntary process that can take from one to three years, and requires that teachers demonstrate that they know their content matter and can manage, measure and improve student learning. The process is so rigorous that nationally, only 40% of teacher candidates can achieve the credential the first time they apply.

Just-completed research shows that third, fourth, fifth, and sixth graders taught by NBCTs in 14 Arizona school districts outperformed their schoolmates on the nationwide Stanford Achievement Test 9th Edition (SAT-9) in almost 75 percent of reading, math and language arts measures. The SAT-9 is one of the nation’s most widely used standardized educational tests.

What’s more, researchers found that those gains went beyond higher test scores, adding up to learning improvements equivalent to more than a month’s worth of additional time in the classroom. In some cases, the additional-instruction effect was even more dramatic. The average gain posted by students of NBCTs added up to 1.12 months of additional schooling, or about 25 more days in class. In 1999-2000, students of NBCTs gained three-and-a-half months more in math achievement than students of non-NBCTs.

This was also true in 2000-2001, when the NBCTs’ students gained two months more in language arts achievement compared to students of non-NBCTs. When the Arizona researchers compared 1999-2003 SAT-9 scores in classes of 35 NBCTs with those of non-NBCTs, they found that the certified teachers’ students scored higher than other students in 35 of 48 key measures.

While the Arizona study focused primarily on student achievement, the researchers also investigated the views of school principals whose staffs include NBCTs. Eighty-five percent of principals surveyed said NBCTs in their schools were among the best teachers they had ever supervised. Three-quarters reported observing positive changes in the practices of teachers who sought National Board Certification; 91 percent said they believe NBPTS contributes to improvement of teacher quality.

Three years ago, the BCEE embarked on a recruitment and support campaign that aimed to increase the number of NBCTs in New Jersey. That campaign netted an increase in candidates that was four times the number in previous years, from slightly over 20 each year to 99 last year, and doubled the number of teachers who successfully completed the process.

Teachers who earn the credential also earn six graduate credits and the state has agreed to support the full cost of the application fee. For more information, contact Donna Custard at the BCEE, 609-989-7888, extension 120. Find more information at

The BCEE’s successful School Counts! program advanced in several counties with the establishment of several scholarship initiatives. Atlantic and Cape May residents now have the opportunity to support deserving students by checking a box on their next South Jersey Gas bill, donating $1 per month to support Atlantic Cape Community College’s School Counts! scholarship endowment program. Funding will allow Atlantic Cape May Community College to provide full scholarships to students who earn the School Counts! certificate in each of their four high school years.

School Counts! was designed to prepare students for the workplace and to promote student achievement and work ethic. Students in participating high schools earn a School Counts! certificate by meeting several criteria, including maintaining a 95% attendance and punctuality rate and a "C" in every course.

South Jersey Industries has generously offered its billing system as a mechanism to promote this scholarship program. Cumberland County College also offers scholarships to students who meet the School Counts! criteria, and the first class of eligible students will be knocking on the institution’s doors this year. The program is starting to achieve critical mass in Ocean County as well, with almost 300 businesses agreeing to ask students to show their earned annual certificates during job interviews for entry-level positions.

For more information, contact Kate Brittain at the BCEE, 609-989-7888, extension 126. Find more information at

Over 120 New Jersey business leaders were asked to step up to the plate in support of BCEE programs at a recent conference called ‘The Sky’s the Limit: Building a More Diverse Workforce.’ The conference focused on improving minority achievement as a way to build the diverse workforce they will need in the future.