By: Jake Uitti
MONTGOMERY Students identified by their teachers as needing extra help for three standardized tests will be nominated for after-school test preparation under a soon-to-be implemented plan called Project Achieve.
The tests are the New Jersey Assessment of Skills and Knowledge exam, given to third- and fourth-graders; the Grade Eight Proficiency Assessment; and the High School Proficiency Assessment, given to 11th-graders.
Jane Plenge, the Montgomery school district’s assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, said that tutoring and family support would be provided for the students after school.
"We will be making contact with the students’ families to have them check on homework and grades, as well as tutoring students after school to help them do well on the tests," she said. "When schools work with parents in a partnership, wonderful things happen. The more the families know, the more successful the program will be."
Students will be identified by teachers of students in grades leading up to the test year. The first teaching sessions will begin in January for the tests scheduled for March.
Christopher Manno, Ms. Plenge’s predecessor, noticed the need for extra assistance, Ms. Plenge said. Dr. Manno created the program last year with other Montgomery school administrators and educators to help with the test preparation.
"The first half of the year will be for tutoring," Ms. Plenge said, "and the second half of the year (beginning in January) will be spent on test preparation."
Letters have not yet been sent out announcing the introduction of the plan to parents, but they will be sent within the next few weeks. This will be the first school year that Montgomery will be offering Project Achieve, and it will be funded through the district’s existing budget, Ms. Plenge said.

