ALLENTOWN: Test scores rise at Allentown High School

By Jane Meggitt, Special Writer
   ALLENTOWN — Students at Allentown High School achieved higher scores on college entrance exams and the state’s standardized tests for 11th graders than the prior year, according to Stephen Cochrane, assistant superintendent of curriculum for the Upper Freehold Regional and Millstone school districts.
   Mr. Cochrane presented the results of the 2012 New Jersey High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA) tests for Allentown High School during a joint meeting Monday of the Millstone Board of Education and the Upper Freehold Regional Board of Education. More than half the 1,252 students at AHS are from Millstone, a K-8 district without its own high school.
   The 2012 HSPA scores discussed were the results of tests taken by the previous year’s juniors.
   Mr. Cochrane’s report compared how AHS students fared with students at the state level, as well their District Factor Group, a classification system used to compare districts of similar socio-economic status. DFGs are ranked by alphabetical letters from A to J, with J being the wealthiest. The DFG for Allentown High School is GH.
   Scores on the mathematics portion of the HSPA for all AHS 11th-graders taking the test rose 4 points to a “very respectable” high of 85.2 percent, Mr. Cochrane said. In the general education population (excluding special education), 94.5 percent of students achieved proficiency, with 28.6 percent scoring at the advanced proficient level — an all-time high for the district.
   The advanced-proficient results exceeded the state level of 27.5 percent, but ranked below the DFG’s result of 33.3 percent, he said.
   ”The math program at the high school provides a very solid foundation for our students,” Mr. Cochrane’s analysis stated, adding that AHS will continue to align its program to the state’s new Common Core standards and expected practices.
   In language arts section of the HSPA, 93.3 percent of the AHS 11th-graders who took the test passed, up slightly from the prior year’s result of 92.5 percent. The latest results are higher than the state level of 91.5 percent, and slightly below the DFG at 95.5 percent.
   Of concern, however, is that despite the 93.3 percent passing rate, only 18.7 percent scored at the advanced proficient level, compared to 21.8 percent for the state and 27 percent for the DFG. Mr. Cochrane said 24.7 percent of AHS girls scored at the advanced proficient level, while only 9.9 percent of boys did.
   Mr. Cochrane said his analysis found that greater emphasis on writing and “analyzing text” could produce significant gains in future testing.
   ”This emphasis will have to be school-wide, across all grade levels and content areas,” he said.
   In biology, the percentage of students passing was up by 15 points from last year, for a total of 78.7 percent, exceeding both the state average of 59.2 percent and the DFG average of 69.4 percent. The percentage of students scoring advanced proficient level was 20.6 percent, which was higher than the state average of 14.4 percent and DFG average of 17.5 percent.
   The mean SAT reading score rose 13 points, from 504 to 517, Mr. Cochrane said. SAT scores at Allentown High had slipped in recent years, but are now returning to their previous higher levels, he said.
   The SAT writing score rose 6 points over last year, to 511. The mean SAT math score rose 10 points to 529.