Scores drop in new high school exam

State 11th grade proficiency test proves tougher than the old version.

By: Jeff Milgram
   When New Jersey Department of Education officials announced they were switching to a new 11th-grade proficiency exam in 2002, they knew they were raising the bar for graduation standards.
   They found out just how high they raised the bar Thursday when the first results of the new test were released.
   Under the new High School Proficiency Assessment, 89.6 percent of Princeton High School’s 11th-graders tested either proficient or above proficient in both mathematics and language arts literacy — reading, writing, comprehension and vocabulary.
   The state average is 65.8 percent, but the average for districts with the same demographics as Princeton is 87.3 percent.
   The year before, under the old High School Proficiency Test, which measured reading, writing and math skills, PHS students registered a 98.5-percent proficiency rate.
   State Department of Education officials are quick to point out that the tests are different and results cannot be compared from year to year.
   Tom Rosenthal, spokesman for the state Department of Education, said results show "significant improvement" between the students who took the Eighth Grade Proficiency Assessment in 1999 and the same students who took the HSPA in 2002. Proficiency scores went from 78.5 percent in 1999 to 81 percent in 2002.
   "This is good news," Mr. Rosenthal said. "It really demonstrates that the children are learning."
   The HSPA results were delayed several months because the firm that administered and scored the test, Measurement Inc., had problems compiling the data from the more than 70,000 students who took the three-day test, Mr. Rosenthal said.
   "We have levied some penalties," he said, noting that the firm had accepted responsibility for the delay.
   The main reason for the drop in scores is the way the new test is reported, said James Riordan, guidance director for the Princeton Regional School District.
   The new test includes results from special education and limited-English proficient students, who tend to lower scores, he said. The HSPT tested only regular and general education students.
   Mr. Riordan said the 89.6 number is deceptive and only represents the percentage of students who were proficient in all parts of the test.
   "I have 94.7 percent of my kids proficient in language arts and 90.5 percent proficient in math," he said.
   Montgomery High School, which scored a 93.9-percent proficiency rate, the highest in the Princeton area on the HSPA, was down from 97.4-percent proficient the year before.
   The results were combined for the two high schools in the West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District. The latest proficiency rate is 90.7 percent, while it was 97.2 percent the year before.
   New Jersey high school students will begin being tested for science skills this school year and social studies next year. Eventually, visual and performing arts, health and physical education and language skills will be tested.
   The new tests are closely linked to New Jersey’s rigorous curriculum standards.
   In October 1999, then-Education Commissioner David Hespe warned that the new test would be tough.
   "At one time, the HSPT may have been a more difficult test than students were used to, but that is no longer the case," he said. "If we are to administer a true graduation test, that exam must measure the things that students have got to know and be able to do when they graduate from high school. The new HSPA will be an important measure of those skills."
   This latest language arts and math results were tightly clustered among the three districts.
   At PHS, 34.1 percent scored advanced proficient in language arts, while 60.6 percent were proficient and 5.3 percent were partially proficient.
   In math, 56.5 percent registered as advanced proficient, 34 percent were proficient and 9.5 percent partially proficient.
   In Montgomery, 32.9 percent of students scored as advanced proficient in language arts, 64.1 percent scored proficient and 3 percent scored partially proficient.
   In math, 54.1 percent registered advanced proficient, 41.6 percent were proficient and 4.3 percent were partially proficient.
   West Windsor-Plainsboro students scored 33.6 percent advanced proficient in language arts, 62.8 percent came in at proficient and 3.6 percent were partially proficient. Math scores showed that 51.6 were advanced proficient, 39.9 were proficient and 8.4 were partially proficient.