By: centraljersey.com
Stephanie Vaccaro
Staff Writer
High schools in Princeton, Montgomery and West-Windsor-Plainsboro have all placed in the top six in the state for combined SAT scores, according to the New Jersey state report cards.
Princeton High was the highest-ranking in the state with a combined score in math, verbal and writing of 1860, with 635 for math, 611 for verbal and 614 for writing.
"Princeton High School is often near the top of the SAT scores," said Principal Gary Snyder. "It is but one indicator of the strength of the instruction and curriculum at PHS that is combined with an outstanding faculty and amazing student body. Our students do well on a number of measures, some qualitative such as SATs and others qualitative such as the spirit of learning and community present each day at PHS."
"The notion of ‘live to learn and learn to live’ guides our work every day and contributes to student achievement in the academics, arts, athletics, and activities," he said.
West Windsor-Plainsboro South came in second with a combined score of 1843 – 641 for math, 597 for verbal and 605 for writing.
West Windsor-Plainsboro North came in fifth with a combined score of 1815 – 627 for math, 590 for verbal and 598 for writing.
"Research tells us that successful schools are characterized by dedicated educators, motivated students, involved parents, and a supportive community," said Dr. Victoria Kniewel, superintendent of West Windsor-Plainsboro schools. "This partnership provides opportunities for our students to excel academically, artistically and athletically.
"Student achievement on the SATs, along with other standardized tests, is a testament to the hard work of students, teachers, staff, and families. I do realize that these latest SAT scores show excellent results, and I also know that these scores are just one measure of student success. In West Windsor-Plainsboro, we believe that standardized testing scores, along with myriad other measures and assessments, show the strengths and achievements of all our students."
Montgomery High came in sixth with a combined score of 1790 – 613 for math, 587 for verbal and 590 for writing.
"We are extremely proud of our students’ average achievement on SATs, but in and of themselves, they do not have much meaning for us," said Earl Kim, superintendent of Montgomery Township schools. "Remember that the SAT is not intended to reflect on student learning but potential for success in college, even after changing its name from an aptitude test to an assessment test, and that even by that score they don’t do a terrific job."
"We don’t gauge our schools’ effectiveness using the SAT, though we do track it as a proxy for a more important variable – math attainment," said Mr. Kim. "We know that the math attainment levels, or years of math, have a significant impact on math SAT scores and that our students do tend to persist in math coursework, though some do not. To the extent that our teachers give them the confidence to take more and more math, this is a tribute to our staff. Our teachers in math and language arts are also highly professional and take pride in the success of their students in class. This, too, helps.
"We are more interested in the extent to which we prepare our college-bound students to actually complete college and prepare our career-bound students to find solid placements in occupations with real career opportunities."