Assessment reports recently released by the New Jersey Department of Education
By John Tredrea, Staff Writer
School “report cards” and statewide assessment reports of schools recently were released by the New Jersey Department of Education (DOE).
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,” DOE Commissioner of Education Lucille E. Davy said in written statement the state released with the report cards and assessments.
”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 said.
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, and in some cases, science proficiency.
• Central High School — Of those taking the HSPA (New Jersey High School Proficiency Assessment), 94.2 percent was proficient in language arts and 91.7 percent was proficient in math in the 2008 assessment. For language arts, the state average was 83.4 percent. For math, the state proficient average is 75.4 percent. On the math tests, 51.2 percent of HoVal students taking the test were “advanced proficient” and are included in the overall proficient percentage noted above.
According to a state Web site, the HSPA is a state test given to students in 11th grade to measure whether they have gained the knowledge and skills identified in the Core Curriculum Content Standards. These standards, adopted by the State Board of Education, identify what students should know and be able to do at the end of various benchmark years. The test “will help determine whether a child is making satisfactory progress toward mastering the skills he or she will need to graduate from high school. Students must pass the HSPA as a graduation requirement.
For the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT), the average score in math was 579 (state, 514). The average score for verbal was 554 (state, 492). And the average score for essay, 553 (state, 494). The total average score was 1,686. A perfect SAT score is 2,400. A total of 255 took the tests.
Four other area high schools in the same District Factor Group (DFG) — “I” — as Hopewell Valley got the following SAT scores:
— Princeton High School (297 took tests) — The average score for math was 620; for verbal, 607; and for essay, 610, for a total average score of 1,837.
— Lawrence High School (236 took tests) — The average for math was 509; for verbal, 493; and for essay, 491. Total average score was 1,493.
— West Windsor-Plainsboro North (295 took tests) — The average score for math was 612; for verbal, 576; and for essay, 578, Total average score was 1,766.
— West Windsor-Plainsboro South (392 took tests) — The average score for math was 632; for verbal, 595; and for essay, 597. The total average score was 1,824.
According to a Web site, school districts in New Jersey are categorized into District Factor Groups, which describe the socioeconomic characteristics of the local district. From lowest socioeconomic status to highest, the categories are A, B, CD, DE, FG, GH, I and J.
Grades six-eight in Hopewell Valley attend Timberlane Middle School.
In language arts, 95.2 percent of Timberlane sixth-graders were proficient, compared to 57.3 percent statewide. In math in sixth grade, it was 91.4 percent proficiency at Timberlane while the statewide average was 72.2 percent.
In grade seven language arts, it was 92 percent proficiency at Timberlane and 70.5 percent statewide. In grade seven math, it was 88 percent at Timberlane and 64.5 percent statewide.
In grade eight language arts, it was 94.1 percent proficiency at Timberlane and 81.4 percent statewide. In grade eight math, it was 82.3 percent at Timberlane and 67.7 percent statewide.
From third to 12th grade, Hopewell Valley students have scored higher overall than state averages in language arts, mathematics and science for 2007-2008, the DOE report card shows.
In a number of categories, as noted below, Hopewell Valley came out far ahead of the state average. In third grade, 93.3 percent of the students was proficient in language arts, compared to 86.1 percent statewide. In math, it was 92 percent for Hopewell Valley third-graders and 86.8 percent statewide.
In fourth grade, it was 90.8 percent proficiency for Hopewell Valley, compared to 82.7 percent statewide in language arts. In math, it was 92.9 percent for Hopewell Valley and 84.9 percent statewide. Fourth-graders also took a science test. In that test, it was 98.1 percent in Hopewell Valley and 85.1 percent statewide.
In fifth grade on the language arts test, 79.9 percent of Hopewell Valley students were proficient. It was 60 percent statewide. In fifth grade mathematics, it was 92 percent proficiency for the Valley, compared to 76.6 percent statewide.

