Jewish School Assessment School Improvement Process

Nurturing Excellence in Synagogue Schools

Nurturing Excellence in Synagogue Schools (NESS) is an initiative of the Auerbach Central Agency for Jewish Education (ACAJE) aimed at improving the quality of Jewish education and increasing the number of students who continue their Jewish education beyond their Bar/Bat Mitzvah.  The NESS initiative is based on the findings of a study conducted by the ACAJE which investigated the underlying reasons for the alarmingly high drop-out rate among post Bar/Bat Mitzvah students.

In collaboration with the ACAJE, Foundations piloted The Jewish Assessment and School Improvement Process (JSASIP) in six synagogue schools in the Delaware Valley.  The effectiveness of the pilot phase was documented in an evaluation report and through ongoing feedback from participants. 

We are currently providing support to a second cohort of five synagogue schools, now in their third year:

• Beth Am Israel (Penn Valley)
• Beth Sholom (Elkins Park)
• Har Zion (Penn Valley)
• Temple Sinai (Dresher)
• Tiferet Bet Israel (Blue Bell)

Foundations’ work with this second cohort includes assessment using the JSASIP with professional assessors, and introducing lay assessors to the JSASIP.

Following a two-day national conference to share information about the project in 2007, San Francisco’s Bureau of Jewish Education was selected as a NESS replication site.  In August 2008, Foundations trained assessors in San Francisco on the use of the JSASIP. In addition, central education agencies in four cities — Boston, Detroit, Milwaukee, and Pittsburgh — have been selected as JSASIP dissemination sites.  Foundations trained personnel in those central education agencies on using the JSASIP.