GRADE
SCHOOLS LEAD THE WAY AS SCORES RISE
Saturday, January 07, 2006 • BY
JOHN MOONEY • Star-Ledger Staff
Overall test scores for New Jersey
students mainly improved last year, including some
significant gains among minority and low-income children in
elementary schools, according to newly released state
data.
The progress, however, was more limited
among middle and high school students, and the overall gaps
in test scores between white and minority children remain
large in most grades, even widening in some
cases.
According to the state's annual
assessment reports for 2005, 60 percent of black
fourth-graders passed the statewide math test last spring, a
10-point improvement over 2004 and double the number who
passed in 1999.
Among all fourth-graders, 80 percent
passed the math test, an eight-point improvement from 2004.
The passing rate for language arts remained flat, holding at
just over 80 percent statewide, according to the
reports.
"In the early grades, the news is getting
better," acting Education Commissioner Lucille Davy said.
"As long as there is a gap, it's not enough progress. But
the trend is in the right direction."
Overall, test scores at virtually all
levels rose last year, though in some cases the improvement
was slight.
For the first time since the fourth-grade
test was established in 1999, more than 80 percent passed
both the language arts and math sections, according to the
reports. Results on the third-grade test -- which began in
2003 -- also improved: 83.3 percent passed the language arts
and 82.5 passed the math portion.
Scores for New Jersey's eighth- and
11th-graders rose as well, although the passing rates
remained mostly below 80 percent.
Among eighth-graders, 76.8 percent passed
in science; 72.3 in language arts; and just 62.4 in math.
For 11th-graders, 83.2 percent passed language arts, and
75.5 passed in math. Both were improvements, with the math
score going up more than five points. The science test is
not administered to 11th-graders.
The reasons for the gains or drops in
scores are varied. But education officials and others agree
there has been an increased focus on school testing both in
New Jersey and nationwide over the last several years,
mainly because of the federal No Child Left Behind Act and
its demands for improvements for all students.
Wallington, a working-class community in
Bergen County, has seen such an improvement in scores among
its high school students that it now ranks in the top 10
percent among comparable districts in New Jersey.
Principal Joseph Pompeo said teachers aim
to help all students, but there is an urgency to improve
scores among minority and low-income students.
"With No Child Left Behind, that's
sensitized all schools to these issues," Pompeo
said.
Under the No Child Left Behind Act,
schools that do not raise achievement among all students
face potential sanctions, including the loss of federal
funds and even closure.
Urban districts, which have received
massive amounts of additional funding under the state
Supreme Court's Abbott v. Burke school equity rulings, also
showed some significant improvements.
Some say the benefits of the Abbott
reforms are starting to reap results. For example, many of
the children who attended the first Abbott-mandated
preschool programs are now taking the statewide
tests.
The results can be seen in Newark, where
60 percent of fourth-graders passed the math test last year,
double the number who passed in 2001. A third of those
passing were rated as "advanced proficient."
"Those youngsters (coming out of
preschool) are starting right out of the box jumping,"
Superintendent Marion Bolden told the state Board of
Education last month.
Despite the gains among elementary school
children, wide disparities between students of different
incomes and ethnicities continue in the higher
grades.
Among eighth-graders, the gap has widened
slightly in language arts since 1999, according to the
state's data. In the high schools, it has narrowed by just a
few percentage points since 2002, the first year of the
current 11th-grade test.
New Jersey, like many other states, is
struggling to maintain the gains of the early grades into
the middle and high schools. The state has started to focus
on the secondary schools with initiatives such as smaller
learning environments and more literacy
instruction.
William Firestone, a professor at Rutgers
University's Graduate School of Education, has been working
on math and science reforms in almost a dozen districts.
Some of the recent gains in math are the result of greater
attention to its instruction and a willingness to try
different approaches to reach different children, he
said.
But, Firestone said, such change is more
difficult at the high school level, where curriculums and
the system of tracking students by ability is tougher to
change.
"It's just harder to move things in high
schools, because everyone thinks there is a certain way high
schools are supposed to be," he said.
School-by-school test scores, as well as
other academic and financial data, are scheduled to be
released next month with the annual School Report
Cards.
The assessment reports can be viewed
at the state Department of Education's Web site at
www.state.nj.us/education.
John Mooney covers education. He may be reached at
jmooney@starledger.com, or (973) 392-1548.
© 2006 The Star-Ledger. Used by NJ.com with
permission.
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