By Lauren Otis, Staff Writer
The New Jersey Department of Education has released its 2008 school report cards and statewide assessment reports. The report cards contain detailed statistical profiles of all public schools in the state in the areas of school environment, student information, student performance indicators, staff information, and district/charter financial information.
”With our state and nation facing such a severe economic downturn, we have an increased mandate to provide accountability for every dollar we spend on education,” stated Commissioner of Education Lucille E. Davy in a release announcing the release of the data.
”The purpose of these reports is to enable members of the public to measure the progress of their local schools through the individual report cards and the trend information in the assessment summary,” Ms. Davy stated.
The report cards, established by legislation in 1995, are produced for all elementary and secondary schools, as well as vocational schools, special education schools, charter schools, and Special Services School Districts.
The assessments measure student “language arts” and math proficiency. According to the 2008 assessments local school districts — Princeton, West Windsor-Plainsboro, and Montgomery — again appear to be among the top districts in the state.
At Princeton High School, 91.4 percent of the student body was proficient in language arts (39.7 percent was “advanced proficient”) and 93.1 percent was proficient in math (60.4 percent advanced proficient) in the 2008 assessment.
At West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North, 95.1 percent of students were proficient in language arts (23.2 percent advanced proficient), and 90.2 percent of students were proficient in math (59.4 percent advanced proficient) in 2008. At WW-PHS South, 93.8 percent of students were proficient in language arts (26.7 advanced proficient) and 92.4 percent were proficient in math (58.6 percent advanced proficient).
At Montgomery High School, 96.9 percent of students were proficient in language arts (28.1 advanced proficient) and 95.9 percent were proficient in math (54.1 advanced proficient).
The school report card is on the education department’s Web site at http://education.state.nj.us/rc/. The statewide assessment reports are on the department’s Web site at http://www.nj.gov/education/schools/achievement/2009/.
