Using a PowerPoint presentation, Beach Haven School Superintendent EvaMarie Raleigh broke down the school’s New Jersey Assessment Skills and Knowledge results during the board of education’s monthly meeting, held on Nov. 18. The results from the standardized test, which is administered by the N.J. Department of Education and was taken in May by the students in grades three through six, consists of math and English language arts content, and also assesses additional grade levels in science. Together with the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA) that is given to students in 11th grade, the NJ ASK is used to assess student performance in the state’s public schools.
 |
| Photo via Google Statewide, scores were about the same compared to last year. |
Overall, the school’s scores reflected a performance decrease in math and an increase in ELA. The third-grade students’ scores showed an increase in ELA and were on target with the state mean, but dropped in math. The scores for students in fourth grade increased slightly in ELA, decreased in math and stayed about the same in science. The fifth-grade scores saw a drop in ELA and a significant drop in math. The scores for the sixth-grade students increased in both ELA and math.
Jennifer Tomlinson, a student parent who was elected to the board during November’s general election, said she believed the decrease in the scores reflected the shift in the school’s test preparation and readers/writers workshop.
Raleigh said the school’s overall results lined up with statewide performance results, which remained relatively consistent, with only slight increases or decreases from last year to this year. She did, however, acknowledge the school’s “math problem.”
“We definitely need improvement in math,” she said. “Our language arts scores are hanging right there, on every grade level, with the state.”
The school is also challenged with reducing the achievement gap, Raleigh added.
“It’s all about really what each kid needs,” she said.
Next year, the students will take the Partnership Assessment for Readiness of College and Careers assessments via computer. The assessments, aligned with the new, more rigorous Common Core State Standards, will measure whether students are on track to be successful in college and their careers. The new testing will “dramatically change” the baseline, making it difficult to measure the past years’ scores, Raleigh said.
“Our goals for meeting the new Common Core State Standards and the corresponding Partnership Assessment for Readiness of College and Careers is to continue to utilize and strengthen our reader/writers programs for ELA and to determine the best materials (math series, on-line software, etc.) to use to meet the increasing demands in the math Common Core and PARCC,” said Raleigh. ”Currently we are exposing our students to more use of technology as the test will be taken via computers for the first time in the New Jersey state assessments. We will begin to have all students in grades three through six use practice assessments to be familiar with the new testing protocols and electronic tools.”
In other meeting news, it was announced that a $500 donation from the Beach Haven Community Arts Program is being used to partially fund a trip for the students to see the “The Wizard of Oz” at Surflight Theatre on Dec. 5. The balance is being paid by the PTA.
Raleigh also announced that Little Music Makers of Bernardsville donated “quite a list of musical items” to the school.
During public comment, student parent Shari Boehler urged the board to make an effort to have the board meetings recorded, a request she said she has made multiple times.
“It just seems there’s often discrepancies,” she explained. “I’ve had personal discrepancies with the meetings for my own personal comments for the minutes, for things that have been said. I see something tonight was brought up with a discrepancy. I don’t understand why they’re not recorded.”
Boehler also asked the board if she was allowed to bring cupcakes into school to celebrate her child’s upcoming birthday, an issue that has been debated between many parents and the board at prior meetings. Raleigh replied by saying the cupcakes could be brought into school but would be taken home, not eaten in class.
On another note, applications to fill the board seat left open by former vice president Sandra Close, who resigned in October, will be available until Dec. 12. A replacement is expected to be chosen by the board at next month’s public meeting, on Dec. 15, Raleigh said. The board will reorganize in January, welcoming Tomlinson and Meredith L. O’Donnell, both teachers in the Stafford Township School District who ran unopposed for the Beach Haven School Board’s two open seats in the November election.
— Kelley Anne Essinger
This article was published in The SandPaper.
This article was published in The SandPaper.
No comments:
Post a Comment