CENTRAL JERSEY: Local schools make the grade

EWRSD scores high on state Skills and Knowledge tests

By Doug Carman, Staff Writer
   The results are in for the state’s Assessment of Skills and Knowledge tests, and the East Windsor Regional Schools are ahead of the class, at least in most categories.
   According to the 2010 assessment reports published earlier this month by the N.J. Department of Education, East Windsor and Hightstown students scored better than the state average in all but two categories on last spring’s standardized tests. The percentage of passing East Windsor 4th-graders were two percentage points behind the state on language arts scores and high school juniors a fraction of a percentage below the state’s average math scores.
   Passing students’ scores are categorized as “proficient” and “advanced proficient,” while failing scores are deemed “partially proficient” in the state results. The math, language arts and science tests, consisting of multiple-choice and open-ended short-answer and essay questions, are given a numerical score and are then categorized into the three proficiency levels.
   EWRS Superintendent Edward Forsthoffer told the Herald this showed an improvement in the district’s math scores, which were a concern in years past. But the superintendent said that along with the rest of the state, scores for East Windsor indicated a need to focus on language arts at the elementary school level.
   ”Like the rest of New Jersey, literacy scores have become the area that will require a more targeted approach,” Dr. Forsthoffer wrote in an e-mail. “The East Windsor Regional School District exceeded state proficiency levels at all grade levels in language arts with the exception of grade four.”
   The exams test students in grades 3 through 8. The High School Proficiency Assessment tests are typically administered to high school juniors.
   Statewide, third- and fourth-graders exhibited the greatest struggle with language arts. The results showed that 57.6 percent of the district’s fourth-graders reached the state’s benchmarks for language arts, as compared to 59.6 percent of fourth-graders throughout the state.
   With the exception of seventh-graders, students, on average, fared better in math than language arts.
   Even amid the relatively lower language arts scores, Dr. Forsthoffer noted a silver lining. The district reported a higher percentage of eighth-grade students scoring at the advanced-proficiency level — 25 percent of the students tested — compared to just 15 percent a year ago.
   About 18 percent of students around the state scored high enough to achieve that level.
   To focus on sagging language arts scores, Dr. Forsthoffer said the district has set up book rooms at each of the district’s four elementary schools, and they will also start up a phonics and spelling program this year for kindergarten and first grade.
   At Hightstown High School, Dr. Forsthoffer said they have already shifted to a new schedule that includes longer block periods that allow for more instruction time.
   ”We believe that the new schedule, combined with curriculum interventions and staff development, will have a positive impact on state assessments in future years,” Dr. Forsthoffer said, “just as our interventions in the lower grades have led to significant improved mathematics scores at those levels.”
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