The purpose of the Promising Practices Project (PPP) is to identify and document promising practices for learning acceleration in K-12 schools, particularly those practices which emerged in response to the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, a time which functioned as a “crucible of innovation” in the education arena. The research team developed a rigorous, mixed methods approach which permitted us to identify positive outlier schools (i.e., those exceeding predicted academic growth), research factors associated with positive outlier status, interview teachers and administrators about practices they deem effective in improving student learning, and disseminate findings broadly.

In selecting the Promising Practices schools, we deliberately included schools that represented a wide range of communities, including those serving students with various levels of need, with various levels of racial/ethnic diversity, in counties across the state, etc. By applying an equity lens to our methodology, this project aims to amplify and share promising practices that have been proven effective across various types of schools. Our goal is to ensure that all administrators in New Jersey can see themselves reflected in another school’s success and readily replicate those practices to accelerate student learning.

The selection process/approach to identifying Promising Practices schools:

We used NJDOE School Performance Reports, student demographic/testing data, and NCES socioeconomic files to model predicted vs. actual performance and selected schools that appeared as positive outliers. We identified schools that advanced student learning at various levels of achievement for all students and some subgroups of historically underserved students (i.e., English learners, students with disabilities, economically disadvantaged students, and Black and Hispanic students). Schools were selected based on overall, subgroup-specific, and post-COVID improvements. The schools selected for this research project represent a sample of the schools identified as positive outliers.

What it means to be a Promising Practices school:

The Promising Practices schools have done exemplary work – resulting in better than predicted student learning outcomes when comparing pre- to post-pandemic performance in English language arts and mathematics. Teams of Rutgers researchers have engaged with schools across New Jersey and documented promising practices behind the data, facilitating rich conversations in focus groups with school staff (e.g., principals, assistant principals, deans, teachers, directors of curriculum, and school support staff).  

With the goal of capturing the impressive work being done across NJ schools, we aim to learn what school leaders consider to be innovative educational practices supporting learning acceleration that emerged in response to the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Our analysis will focus on highlighting impactful, innovative, and replicable school and classroom practices – especially those which comparably situated schools in New Jersey might adopt to help propel student growth. 

We will be adding resources to this website and sharing promising practices through statewide convenings (Spring 2025) where representatives from public schools across New Jersey will get the chance to share strategies for improving student learning. 

Learning Policy Institute – “California’s Positive Outliers: Districts Beating the Odds” Report

New Jersey Department of Education – NJ Promising Practices