Tag: N.J. parents

Posted on

Should N.J. parents of college students insure the cost of tuition?

Animal-House

AUGUST 22, 2015, 11:29 PM    LAST UPDATED: SUNDAY, AUGUST 23, 2015, 12:37 AM
BY PATRICIA ALEX
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD

For a few hundred dollars a semester, some of the pricier private colleges in the United States have long offered tuition insurance — policies that protect families and schools if a student withdraws for medical reasons.

Starting this year, however, tuition insurance is available to any family in New Jersey — no matter where a student goes to school. The company selling it also is offering more expensive plans that cover other “unforeseen reasons” for midsemester withdrawals, including “poor grades or a crisis at home.”

But is it worth the money?

The top executive at Allianz Global Assistance, which won New Jersey’s approval to sell the policies, said the state is ripe for the insurance, given that its tuition costs — even for public colleges — are among the highest in the nation, topping $25,000 a year if a student lives on campus. He said it makes sense to insure what is likely a family’s largest investment, after a home.

“We insure risk, and we saw a market for this,” said Joe Mason, the company’s chief marketing officer. “College isn’t a small investment. You insure your house, your boat, why not college?”

 

https://www.northjersey.com/news/should-n-j-parents-of-college-students-insure-the-cost-of-tuition-1.1396913

Posted on

N.J. parents critical of standardized tests, poll by teachers union indicates

standardized-testing

standardized-testing

N.J. parents critical of standardized tests, poll by teachers union indicates

JANUARY 27, 2015, 4:54 PM    LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, JANUARY 27, 2015, 4:57 PM
BY HANNAN ADELY
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD

Many New Jersey voters believe that standardized tests are too stressful, take too much time from the classroom and should be reduced, according to the results of a poll released Monday by the state’s largest teachers union.

The New Jersey Education Association, which has been critical of standards-based tests and their use in teacher evaluations, asked 800 registered voters, including 200 parents, for their opinions on testing. Also, 400 parents — including the 200 from the voters group — were polled and their results provided as a group.

In all, 71 percent of parents and 64 percent of voters said the standards-based tests should be reduced. But more than half of parents and 69 percent of voters said they had heard little or nothing about new state tests known as PARCC tests that have been controversial among educators and parent activists.

Also, 81 percent of parents and 78 percent of voters believe teachers are forced to “teach to the test.” The same percentage of parents and voters said they also believe tests aren’t a good measure of the individual student and are given too much weight when used to make decisions on teachers, schools and students.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/n-j-parents-critical-of-standardized-tests-poll-by-teachers-union-indicates-1.1259374