Richard Copp, the science program leader at Leonia High School, was selected for a 40-member committee that will meet this summer.

Director of the Office of State Assessments Timothy Peters said in a letter that the educators chosen "will be making judgements involving expectations of student performances based upon your experience and expertise as well as your knowledge of high school students’ skills and abilities."

Copp’s experience extends beyond the classroom. He received his bachelor and master’s degrees in chemistry and worked in research at Mount Sinai Hospital. He then earned his doctorate at New York University in biology.

He did a post-doctorate fellowship at the school’s medical center and worked as a researcher for 13 years. Copp then took a year off and did some substitute teaching before starting at Leonia High School in 1999.

He’s looking forward to the opportunity to serve on the committee.

"It’s going to be interesting," Copp said. "There’s a great deal of change going on with the state requirements."

He said he’s looking forward to seeing what the format of the committee will be so he can get a better idea of how much input each teacher will have.

One of the first changes he wants to see is the timing of the test.

"Right now the exam is May 19 and that’s not really the end of the course," he said.

But he also wants to see the testing format continue to change.

"We’re trying to emphasize analytical skills over just memorizing facts," he said. "There’s not as much skill development as teachers would like."

Copp said memorizing a series of facts isn’t necessarily going to help students’ futures but having a basic understanding of processes can help them make informed decisions.

"Labs can be set up to develop the skills of looking at something and trying to understand or recognize a model of how it functions, and not just learn a bunch of facts," he said.

He said the first part of the state’s test is a pretty standard format but the second part is becoming more about analytical skills.

"You have to draw info from different sources," Copp said.

As science program leader, Copp has served on Leonia committees but this will be his first time outside the district.

"With so many things happening in Trenton that affect us, it’s very useful to have at least some effect on what they come up with," he said.