LAWRENCE: Local students doing well on state tests

By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
   The state’s cornucopia of details on the public schools, which was released statewide recently, shows that Lawrence Township public school students have generally outperformed their peers on mandatory standardized tests.
   The New Jersey School Report Card for 2010-11 revealed that 72.4 percent of Lawrence Township public school third-graders scored proficient or advanced proficient in language arts literacy on the New Jersey Assessment of Skills and Knowledge 3, compared to 63.2 percent statewide.
   On the mathematics portion of the NJASK-3, 85.3 percent of Lawrence students scored proficient or advanced proficient. This compares to 79.1 percent of third-graders who took the standardized test statewide.
   Lawrence students produced similar results on NJASK-4, -5, -6, -7 and –8, as well as the High School Proficiency Assessment, which is given to 11th-graders.
   And when it comes to the Scholastic Assessment Test — more commonly known as the SAT — Lawrence High School students overall continue to shine. The average SAT verbal score is 505, compared to 493 statewide, and 514 on the essay portion as compared to 496 statewide. On the math portion, however, Lawrence students scored 508 and statewide, the average score was 517.
   That information is only a portion of what is available on the annual report card for each public school in New Jersey. The information is compiled and released by the state Department of Education.
   Superintendent of Schools Crystal Lovell said she is happy that overall, Lawrence students perform better on standardized tests than the state average. The school district uses the test results to help it focus on making improvements, she said. Each principal has a benchmark for his or her school.
   Dr. Lovell noted that in the past three years, more Lawrence High School students have taken the SAT. During the 2008-09 school year, 73 percent of the students took the SAT. In 2009-10, 78 percent of the student sat down for the test. This past school year, 82 percent took the SAT.
   ”We want our students to take the SAT — to challenge themselves. We had students who thought, ‘This is out of my reach.’ We work with the students and tell them it is within their reach. We want to set them up for success,” Dr. Lovell said.
   All Lawrence High School students take the Preliminary Scholastic Assessment Test, she said. The results provide school district officials and the students with the data to help them to become college or career ready, she said. It also prepares the students to take the SAT.
   Dr. Lovell also is proud of the district’s track record in Advanced Placement courses. Statewide, 39.9 percent of 11th- and 12th-graders took AP courses, compared to 39.4 percent of Lawrence High School students in the past school year.
   And of the 286 juniors and seniors who took the AP test after completing the course, 235 scored 3 or better. The scores range from a low of 1 to a high of 5, Dr. Lovell said.
   Other bits of trivia included in the annual report card include the high school dropout rate — less than one percent for Lawrence High School students, but 1.5 percent statewide. There were no student expulsions in Lawrence, although 32 students statewide were asked to leave school.
   Those students who are enrolled spend more time in class than the state average. Statewide, the length of the school day is six hours and 30 minutes, but students in grades pre-K to 3 spent six hours and 40 minutes in school. The older students in grades 4-12 spend seven hours a day in school.
   There are fewer administrators in the Lawrence Township public school district — 25, as compared to the statewide average of 26. But the Lawrence administrators earn slightly more than their peers in New Jersey. The median salary in Lawrence is $129,644, but $119,491 statewide.
   Faculty members in Lawrence earned a median salary of $61,840 in 2010-11. Statewide, the median salary for the past school year was $63,851 for faculty.
   And the cost to educate students in the Lawrence Township public school district? It is $13,981 in Lawrence, but $13,253 statewide.