New Jersey Pilot Effort Targets Needy High Schools

New Jersey has announced a pilot program to improve middle and high schools in its poorest districts, an extension of a widely watched effort that for the past seven years has focused largely on preschool and elementary school children.

Four of the state’s lowest-income districts have volunteered to participate in the project. If the results are good, the model could be expanded to the other 27 designated high-need districts, and eventually to secondary schools statewide.

The initiative seeks to convert large middle and high schools into smaller units, enhance the personalization of schooling, and increase the rigor of students’ coursework. In pursuing that path, state officials cite a growing body of research suggesting that those three elements can improve achievement through their potential to...