The Central Jersey Consortium for Excellence and Equity (CJCEE) is an evolving collaboration of administrators, teachers, support staff, parents, and elementary and secondary students that are collectively committed to learning and working together to enhance the achievement and well-being of all students, as well as increasing the academic performance, engagement, and future success of traditionally underachieving students. CJCEE focuses on inter-district collaboration and shared learning for continuous improvement in eliminating the disparities in achievement and school engagement among students.
Founded by Lynn Romeo, Ed.D., former dean of the School of Education and associate professor emeritus, along with James Stefankiewicz, Ed.D., superintendent of Township of Ocean School District, the CJCEE has been in operation since 2012. Tina Paone, Ph.D., professor of Educational Counseling, coordinates the program for the School of Education. For information on the consortium, contact the School of Education, Certification, Field Placements & School Partnership Office at CJCEE@monmouth.edu.
2024-2025 Topic of the Year: Racial Solidarity in Education
Meet This Year’s Speaker
Elizabeth Denevi, Ph.D., is an assistant professor at Lewis and Clark Graduate School of Education and Counseling who focuses on antiracist leadership. She also serves at the director of Eastern Educational Resource Collaborative (East Ed), an educational non-profit that works with school and colleges across the country to promote equity and diversity pedagogy. She has served as both a PK-12 classroom teacher and senior administrator. She is the co-author of “Learning and Teaching While White: Antiracist Strategies for School Communities” (2022), which is a featured title in Routledge’s Equity and Social Justice in Education series. The book was featured in a recent article in ASCD’s Ed Leadership entitled “Responding Systematically to Racial Inequity in Schools“.
District Teams
Each district should create an equity team to attend each of the sessions. The team members will work together the entire year. It is highly recommended that the equity team remain the same throughout the year. Additionally, the equity team should include adult mentors that will assist the students with their projects and attend both student conferences.
Who should be on our equity team?
Your team should consist of administrators, classroom teachers, specialists, school counselors, school social workers, and support staff. Team members should be interested in the topic of social justice and come ready to work. These team members will also serve as the individuals mentoring and assisting the students in the work they will do over the year.
Which students should we send?
Selected students should be leaders who are committed to and interested in social justice work. These students will work with the adult team that will be representing your district. Students will be expected to attend two conferences (October and June) and implement district set goals at the student level.
Information about our 2024-2025 sessions
The CJCEE team sessions will be two-and-a-half hours (9:30 a.m.–12 p.m.) in a virtual setting. Sessions are organized to facilitate the work of district teams to accomplish specific goals for the district. Therefore, the overarching purpose is to apply what is learned in the CJCEE sessions to your work with diversity in the schools. Student sessions will take place in person from 9:15 a.m.–1 p.m.
2024-2025 Membership
The membership includes fifteen (15) adult team members (administers, teachers, counselors, staff, etc.) and ten (10) student participants.
Yearly Membership: The membership fee for the CJCEE for the 2024-2025 academic year is $2,600.
Session Dates
| Session | Date | Time | Location | Group |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Session 1 kickoff | Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024 | 9:15 a.m.–1 p.m. | Monmouth University, main campus | Team members and students |
| Session 2 | Monday, Nov. 18, 2024 | 9:30 a.m.–12 p.m. | Virtual | Team members |
| Session 3 | Monday, Dec. 9, 2024 | 9:30 a.m.–12 p.m. | Virtual | Team members |
| Session 4 | Monday, Jan. 27, 2025 | 9:30 a.m.–12 p.m. | Virtual | Team members |
| Session 5 | Monday, March 3, 2025 | 9:30 a.m.–12 p.m. | Virtual | Team members |
| Session 6 | Wednesday, June 4, 2025 | 9:15 a.m.–1 p.m. | Monmouth University, main campus | Team members and students |