Report cards show academic progress

State Department of Education released its annual school report cards, which assess the academic progress of elementary, middle and high school students throughout the state.

By: Scott Morgan and William Wichert
   Reacting to the state Department of Education’s annual assessment of New Jersey public schools, school officials in northern Burlington County say they are satisfied with student achievement, but still see the need for continued development.
   Last week, the DOE released its annual school report cards, which assess the academic progress of elementary, middle and high school students throughout the state. Progress is measured in standardized math, language arts and science tests. Locally, students in Bordentown Regional, Chesterfield, Florence, Mansfield, New Hanover, North Hanover, Northern Burlington and Springfield school districts were assessed.
   Elementary school students took the New Jersey Assessment of Skills and Knowledge (NJ ASK) tests for grades three (ASK3) and four (ASK4), measuring third- and fourth-grade proficiency in math and language, respectively. Middle school students were tested in the Grade Eight Proficiency Assessment (GEPA) in math, language and science; and high school students were tested in math and language skills in the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA).
   The tests measure partial proficiency, proficiency and advanced proficiency.
BORDENTOWN
   In the Bordentown Regional School District, the passing numbers rose in some subject areas and slipped in others, but Superintendent John Polomano said the report card is still not the final say on the district’s success.
   "It’s a good snapshot of what happens in one particular sitting, but the real key of a school is not measured by a report card," said Mr. Polomano. "When you look at it, it reflects (that) we worked on the curriculum and, any given year, that could change."
   The most positive change at Bordentown Regional High School came in math section of the HSPA test. Students in the 2003-2004 school year scored 22.8 percent advanced proficient, compared to 12.6 percent the year before.
   Scores in the language portion dropped from 66.9 percent proficient in 2002-2003 to 58.1 percent last year. The number of advanced proficient students increased slightly from 19.2 to 22.1 percent, placing the high school above the state average of 17.2 percent.
   But Mr. Polomano said he was most pleased to see that the high school’s attendance rate (95.4 percent) was high, the dropout rate (1 percent) was low, and the class size (18.3 students) was below the state average.
   At MacFarland Junior School, where the class sizes are also less than the state averages, the students did not perform as well on the standardized tests from 2003-2004. The passing rate from the math portion of the GEPA test remained steady at about 60 percent proficient, but scores from the language and science sections dropped by at least eight percentage points from the previous year.
   The most improvement in the entire district could be found at Clara Barton and Peter Muschal Elementary Schools in their scores from the NJASK test for third- and fourth-graders.
   Clara Barton students scored 78.3 percent in the language section of NJASK4, compared to 74.5 percent the year before, and Peter Muschal students reached 78.7 percent proficient in the same section, compared to 74.4 percent in 2002-2003. Both schools also achieved more than 80 percent advanced or proficient ratings in the math portion of the NJASK3.
CHESTERFIELD
   Students showed strong proficiency in math and language arts for the second year in a row in the Chesterfield School District, which serves grades K-6. Third- and fourth-grade students showed strong proficiency in mathematics. Third-grade students, especially, bettered the average scores of state students and other schools of Chesterfield Elementary’s size and socio-economic level (known as a District Factor Group, or DFG). In the ASK3, 68 percent of Chesterfield students scored proficient and 27 percent scored advanced proficiency in math.
   In the ASK4, Chesterfield students doubled state scores in advanced proficiency (50 percent in Chesterfield compared to 26 percent in the state) while 13 percent of Chesterfield students ranked partially proficient in the ASK4 math test, compared to 32 percent of state students and 25.6 percent of students in Chesterfield Elementary’s DFG.
   The district’s language arts proficiency scores were high — 83 percent of Chesterfield third-graders and 80 percent of fourth-graders scored proficient, compared to the state’s average scores of 76 percent and 78 percent, respectively. Roughly 3 percent of students scored advanced proficiency on the ASK3 while 17 percent achieved the same on the ASK4.
FLORENCE
   Scores throughout the district in math and language arts remained consistent with Florence’s 2003 scores and remained extremely competitive to average state scores. Despite a high teacher turnover rate (15 percent in Florence Township Memorial High School and 14 percent in the middle school, both of which are double the state’s respective faculty turnover rates), performance remained largely consistent on standardized tests and SAT scores. The high school’s average 2004 combined SAT score dipped from 1008 to 971, which falls slightly short of the state’s average score of 1016, but still betters the district’s scores from 2002 (950).
   The middle school’s science scores (GEPA) were the district’s strongest showing, with 56.5 percent of students scoring proficient and 22.6 percent scoring advanced proficient. Those better the state’s average numbers of 53.6 percent and 21 percent, respectively.
   Superintendent Louis Talarico said the district "has a lot to be proud of" in the way its students have reacted to a stronger academic focus over the past two years. In what he said has historically been a sports-oriented school, the focus is changing to a more academic priority. The middle school’s science scores (which remained high for the second straight year) are a prime indicator, Dr. Talarico said. In science classes, he said, students are faced with problem-based learning and solutions that build their brain power.
   Crediting a "great administrative team," Dr. Talarico said the district’s high teacher turnover rate is due to a kind of trial and error process of getting the right teachers for the right subjects.
   "Our investment is to make them as good as they can be," he said of the staff. Yearlong monitoring and adjustment has succeeded in finding great teachers and weeding out those who do not work, he said.
   In the end, he said, the goal is to get teachers teaching without being bogged down by discipline issues (middle and high school suspensions continued to surpass state numbers, though there were no expulsions) or any outside interference.
   Districtwide, faculty attendance was about 97 percent in 2003-2004.
MANSFIELD
   Third- and fourth-graders at Mansfield Township Elementary School put up scores above the state average in every NJASK section, an outcome that Principal Joseph Langowski attributes to the teachers and the new school building on Mansfield Road East.
   "We opened a new building last year and had enough space to be successful, and it (the report card) reflects the quality of our teaching staff," said Mr. Langowski.
   The third-grade students scored 84.6 percent proficient in language and 75.8 percent in math, compared to the respective state averages of 82 percent and 57.6 percent.
   In the fourth grade, students scored 91.8 percent proficient in the language section and 61.2 percent in math. Fourth-graders also scored 29.4 percent on an advanced proficient level. The state averages of proficiency is 77.5 percent for language and 46.4 percent for math.
   Despite these high math scores, Mr. Langowski said the fourth-graders should increase their advanced proficiency levels this year because of a new, "hands-on" approach in the math curriculum. Launched in September, this program, known as "Trailblazers," combines language with visual aids and interactive activities, he said.
NEW HANOVER
   At the New Hanover Elementary School, the passing rate among students remained high in almost every section of the NJASK and the GEPA during the 2003-2004 school year.
   Third-graders scored 75 percent proficient in both the language and math portions of the NJASK3. The fourth-graders achieved 92.3 percent proficient in language, compared to 89.5 percent the previous year, and 23.1 percent scored on an advanced proficiency level in math, compared to 10.5 percent in 2002-2003.
   In their GEPA testing, the eighth-graders scored 85.7 percent proficient in language, compared to 75 percent in 2002-2003, and nearly 100 proficient and advanced proficient in science. In the math portion, the proficiency level dropped from 53.8 to 33.3 percent, but the advanced proficiency rating rose from 7.7 to 28.6 percent.
NORTH HANOVER
   At Columbia School on McGuire Air Force Base, the mobility rate of military children entering and leaving during the 2003-2004 school year may have been 40.9 percent, compared to the 12.8 percent state average, but test scores were still high among the third- and fourth-graders taking the NJASK.
   Columbia third-graders scored 81 percent proficient in the language section of NJASK3 and 68.1 percent in the math portion. The state averages are 80.8 percent for language and 53.8 percent for math.
   Fourth-graders maintained their passing rate in the math section of NJASK4, but they improved their scores in the language portion from 66.3 percent proficient in 2002-2003 to 81.4 percent last year.
   Superintendent Richard Carson said the school district is able to maintain high scores among these "mobile" students because of the Terra Nova standardized test, which is given annually to all K-6 students in most schools near military bases. Students may leave one military school on the other side of the country, their Terra Nova scores are sent to the next school.
   "It’s (the classroom experience) a constant that kids use as they travel state-to-state and country-to-country," said Dr. Carson. "Deployment is a way of life for these kids."
   The success at the Columbia School mirrors the progress made at Clarence B. Lamb Elementary School, the only other school in the district that participated in the NJASK testing.
   C. B. Lamb third-graders scored 80.6 percent proficient in language and 64.5 percent in math, while the fourth-graders increased their scores over the previous year. In the 2002-2003 school year, fourth-graders scored 78.2 percent proficient in language and 43.6 percent in math, but those numbers jumped last year to 82 percent proficient in language and 56 percent in math.
   Dr. Carson said each school in the district will set new goals next month for the coming school year.
NORTHERN BURLINGTON
   Despite a high faculty turnover rate and class sizes above the state average, students within the Northern Burlington County Regional School District improved their scores on both the GEPA and the HSPA tests. The district, which educates middle and high school students from Chesterfield, Springfield, North Hanover, and Mansfield townships, posted scores above state levels in every testing category.
   Superintendent James Sarruda said he is pleased with the district’s report card, but he said the testing numbers are still not the best way to judge students and the teachers.
   "You really can’t judge a school by these test scores," he said. "We want to make sure the curriculum we’re offering our kids gives them the opportunity to do well on these tests, but it’s not the only measuring stick."
   Before moving last September to the new Northern Burlington County Regional Middle School, where class sizes in the old building (23.3 students) were above the state average (19.4), students maintained their passing rate in every GEPA section.
   Eighth-graders scored 79.9 percent proficient in language arts, 52.7 percent in math, and 64.4 percent in science. The state averages for these categories are as follows: 66.3 percent for language arts, 41.7 percent for math, and 53.6 percent for science.
   At Northern Burlington County Regional High School, students scored 78 percent proficient in the language arts section of HSPA, compared to 75.7 percent the previous year, and 58.8 percent in math, compared to 50.7 percent in 2002-2003.
   These score increases came at the same time as when the turnover ratio of faculty members entering and leaving in the school year was 13.7 percent, almost double the state average of 7.2 percent. Dr. Sarruda said this high ratio is due to the several retirements that took place in the district. Eighty percent of the teaching staff in the entire district was hired in the last five years, he said.
SPRINGFIELD
   Language proficiency continued to rise for third- and fourth-graders at the K-6 Springfield Elementary School in 2004. While there were no advanced proficiency scores in the ASK3, proficiency reached 96 percent. In the ASK4, scores rose from 91.1 percent to 94 percent since 2003, while 2 percent of fourth-graders scored advanced proficiency in language arts.
   Third-graders achieved 41.7 percent proficiency and 56.3 percent advanced proficiency in mathematics (the state average was 22 percent advanced proficiency); fourth-graders achieved 56 percent proficiency and 20 percent advanced proficiency in math.