BY ELAINE VAN DEVELDE
Staff Writer
Edison students are making the grade when it comes to the results of the New Jersey Assessment of Skills and Knowledge (ASK) tests for the fourth grade, the district’s Superintendent of Schools Rose Traficante said.
But she also feels they are unrealistically challenged by some of the concepts the math test presents. In many cases those challenges are keeping them from rising above average scores, she said.
Traficante said the district will confront areas of weakness and overcome any obstacles. But, relative to state averages, she considers those obstacles minor.
The ASK was formulated in concert with the federal government’s No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. The legislation mandates that all states across the country track and assess the progress of students in math and language arts — or core curriculum classes — in grades 3-8.
The test was created to assess students at the fourth-grade level, or somewhere in the middle.
The results of the math portion of the ASK are somewhat skewed for Edison elementary students because the test was designed to reflect the aptitudes of students who are reading on level, and not all students are, Traficante said.
“In an area such as math, where our trend is to be more advanced, overall results came in closer to proficient,” Traficante said. “Statewide, math is a challenge area, especially where reading, or extensive word problems, is involved.”
The problems presented in the ASK test challenge students with advanced phrasing in direction or actual problems, she said.
“Fully grasping the intricacies of those problems involves a level of sophistication,” Traficante said. “For instance, the tests are written as though all students are reading on level. Even with most taking the test coming from homes where English is the primary language, the average adult may be intimidated by the wording — and at a little bit of a loss to solve problems in a timely manner — because of it.”
The “open ended” problems in the math section of the test are one portion that make it a challenge area for the district, she said.
Geometry problems, patterns and measurements also stumped students more than usual, she said.
“The state has elevated math as a challenge area,” Traficante said. “We will rise to the challenge. When they raise the bar on assessment, we raise the bar in the classroom. For that reason, these tests serve a valid purpose.”
Traficante said the language arts section of the ASK test was one area where students consistently shined.
There are a couple of reasons for that, Traficante said.
“Surveys show that students who take part early in world languages program do better in language arts,” she said. “We have always had a very evolved world languages program.”
The school’s higher language arts scores are reflective of the district’s recent investment in its “balanced literacy program,” which will focus on fifth grade next year, she said.
The district has spent a lot of time and energy honing its language arts program over the past few years, and the test results reflect that, Traficante said.
Washington School, the school that has the most students with limited English proficiency (12.7 percent), showed 89.3 percent proficiency in language arts in 2004 and 5.9 percent advanced proficiency in 2003.
In math, Washington had 34.5 percent of its student body showing advanced proficiency in 2004 and 36 percent in 2003.
By the same token, the school’s results for limited proficiency were 25 percent in 2004 and 23.3 percent in 2003.
“Still, considering all factors, I feel we did very well in math,” she said. “Some schools had very high levels of advanced proficiency, but there were also much higher levels of partial proficiency as opposed to the language arts test results. Mostly, we fell right in the middle.”
But there were some schools that showed a majority of students rising to advanced proficiency.
In 2004 Martin Luther King Jr. School showed 61.5 percent advanced proficiency in math, while in 2003 it showed 50 percent advanced proficiency.
The James Madison Elementary School showed 50.6 percent advanced proficiency in 2003 in math on the ASK. In 2004 advanced scores were at 46.9 percent.
“Some of those examples show that the results are all relative,” Traficante said. “In evaluating and deciding what programs to implement and where to focus on improvements, we look at each school and assess how it does with regard to the district and the district factor group, or socioeconomic factors.”
As a whole, she said Edison is usually one district factor group — or socioeconomic cluster — ahead of itself.
“The district, in all, usually performs like one a step higher in economic and educational status,” Traficante said.
While north and south Edison are known to have two polar opposite demographics — with north Edison being more affluent than south — the administration does not believe in calling attention to the differences socioeconomic factors may impose on academic knowledge, she said.
“We are very much focused on the district as a whole and areas that we would like to improve — as a whole,” Traficante said. “We do not separate by that sort of status.”
As far as the “less than usual advanced scores” in math are concerned, she said there is a pragmatic resolution under way. A committee is currently looking at the elementary schools’ math program.
The committee is comprised of professionals from all grade levels, such as supervisors from math in grades 6-12 as well as elementary supervisors.
“We are now scrutinizing standards and prioritizing what we feel should be mastered at each level and retaught,” Traficante said. “We’ve been working on math all year. We contracted with Rutgers University to bring in teacher trainers in areas of the ASK where student performance indicates the need for concentrated instruction.”
District officials look at the data and make decisions about future curriculum, professionals’ development and resources, she said.
“Then we will implement a program to keep pace with and, more so, rise above state average standards,” Traficante said.