High school test results disappoint

The first High School Proficiency Assessment produced less than stellar results for Hightstown High School.

By: Chris Karmiol
   The East Windsor Regional School District released its results this week for the New Jersey High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA), which tests 11th-grade students in mathematics and language arts literacy. The results proved less than stellar, but district officials said there is no need to worry.
   "We were disappointed in the results," said Norine Seiden, assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction. "Obviously, we’d always like them to be better. We are certainly looking into the information presented and where our problems lie."
   Of the 316 11th-grade students tested, 64 percent of the total student population passed the test. Passing means scoring in either the proficient or advanced proficient classifications on the exam.
   Of the general student population — excluding special education and limited English proficiency students — 75 percent passed both content areas of the test.
   On the language arts section of the HSPA, 77.5 percent of the total population was proficient or advanced proficient; 67 percent passed the mathematics section.
   Excluding special education and limited English students, 88 percent of the student population passed language arts and 77.5 percent passed mathematics.
   "I would tend to think that this is a quirk," Ms. Seiden said. "(It’s an) unusual set of data, not consistent with what we’ve done in the past. It may be one of those things that just happened. This may not be unique to this district."
   Ms. Seiden said that until the Department of Education sends out statewide results, enabling the district to compare results with similar districts, the scores are not a reliable measure of the performance of the students.
   Makeup tests for the 72 students who failed math and the 48 students who failed language arts will be administered next week. William Roesch, principal of Hightstown High School, said that although he is disappointed with the test results, he is confident that many more students will pass the test in October.
   He also expressed disappointment with the state’s sluggish release of test scores. The Department of Education originally promised test results the week of July 8, he said, but they were not released until Aug. 21. That delay, he said, affected staff and scheduling.
   The HSPA was given to 11th-grade students at Hightstown High School, and throughout the state, for the first time last March. The test replaced the previously administered High School Proficiency Test (HSPT) and, along with the Elementary School Proficiency Assessment and Grade Eight Proficiency Assessment, is among the state’s mandated tests of core curriculum standards.
   As an alternative to the HSPA, students also can take a Special Review Assessment, Mr. Roesch said, to graduate from high school.