P'burg schools fall short No Child Left Behind Act. Phillipsburg not only school in county to not meet act's goals. Friday, August 17, 2007 • By ANDREA EILENBERGER • The Express-Times Phillipsburg students with special needs at the middle and high schools didn't meet the No Child Left Behind proficiency standards for language arts or math, according to results released Thursday. Phillipsburg Superintendent Gordon Pethick said district officials had already identified that need and were working to bolster curriculum. "We recognized last year that was a category that was coming to the forefront that we wanted to look at," Pethick said. "We know it's a critical issue." Each year, students at the elementary, middle and high school levels are tested on their proficiency in math and language arts. The results are sorted by 10 subgroups analyzed within categories like overall student population, race, special needs and economic status. Other schools in Warren County that did not meet the NCLB requirements include: Independence Central School, Stewartsville School, Hackettstown Middle School, Mansfield Township Elementary School and North Warren Middle School. Federal standards create high demands Hackettstown Superintendent Bob Gratz reported positive results from his district. The only area in which his district fell short is language arts for middle school students with disabilities. Gratz said the school has an excellent staff already prepared to implement additional literacy measures. He also noted the government's goal of attaining perfect scores by 2014 is incompatible with the reality of complying with curriculum guided by the Individualized Education Program -- a mandate by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Public schools are required to develop an IEP for every student with a disability who is found to meet the federal and state requirements for special education. "Their curriculum is individualized, yet the No Child Left Behind testing requirements are standardized," Gratz said. Pethick spoke of a similar challenge and cited the benefits of differentiating instruction when students are in a larger group. Making improvements and seeing results Phillipsburg's special education director is working with teachers to ensure literacy curriculum is aligned with the general literacy curriculum, Pethick said. School officials have looked to the state DOE and other districts which have been successful in this area for recommendations. Ultimately, the school is placing a district-wide focus on literacy as the foundation of other courses. Pethick believes that over the years, this emphasis will help all students more effectively tackle problem solving, mathematics problems and other subjects. "You will see improvement coming through the system at an early level" and continuing through the high school, Pethick said. Overall, the district showed more positive results than the previous year. Elementary schools Andover-Morris and Green Street met the benchmarks they missed under last year's report to meet the AYP standards. The district fell short in the categories of Hispanic and economically disadvantaged students. "We've got our challenges set out for us, but I'm pleased I'm seeing improvement at the elementary level," he said. "We are reviewing the results," Pethick said. "We'll take the information and it will be used to help modify and adjust curriculum and instruction as needed." Reporter Andrea Eilenberger can be reached at 610-258-7171 or by e-mail at aeilenberger@express-times.com.