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2-6-09 'Poor students struggle no matter where they go to school in New Jersey'..."The new state school-funding formula is supposed to provide funding for all at-risk children, and preschool is being expanded to reach poor children in every district. But funding shortfalls may jeopardize those efforts. "Children in poverty bring the disadvantages with them to school," said Lynne Strickland, director of the Garden State Coalition of Schools. "But funding for these kids in middle-income districts has been lagging.." 'Reforming high schools a slow process' "...While most high schools offer the new requirements, all students are not required to take them. A DOE survey found that while about 70 percent of the state's public high schools require biology, geometry and algebra I, only 45 percent require algebra II and 35 percent require chemistry. Mandating more lab science for all students would require the costly addition of more science labs in the schools..."
Press of Atlantic City “Poor students struggle no matter where they go to school in New Jersey”
By DIANE D'AMICO Education Writer, 609-272-7241
(Published: Friday, February 06, 2009 )
Every fourth-grader at the Crest Memorial School in Wildwood Crest passed the state language arts, math and science test in 2008.
A few miles away at the Glenwood Avenue School in Wildwood, 75 percent of fourth-graders passed the language arts test, 88 percent passed math and 82 percent passed science.
Crest Memorial may seem more successful, but success is about more than test scores.
More than 30 percent of the students in the Wildwood school do not speak English as their native language, compared with less than 2 percent at Crest Memorial.
The Wildwood school has a student transiency rate of almost 34 percent, compared with less than 15 percent in Crest Memorial.
More than 60 percent of the children in Wildwood are eligible for the free and reduced-price meal program, compared with about 20 percent in Wildwood Crest.
"There is a direct correlation between socioeconomic factors and how students perform in school," said Dennis Anderson, the school superintendent in both districts. His job is to find ways to compensate.
The impact of poverty on education is most obvious in the state's poorest school districts, where many students still struggle to pass state tests. But disparities also exist in suburban schools, where, despite the perceived advantages of attending some of the best public schools, disadvantaged students still fail at a high rate.
Data included in the state school report cards released Wednesday by the state Department of Education show that across the board, test scores improve in wealthier districts. But poor students do not show the same rate of progress. Almost a third of disadvantaged students who live in suburban districts still fail state tests, compared with less than 10 percent of all other students.
Professor Adam Gamoran, who researches education and poverty at the University of Wisconsin Center for Education Research, said poor students are less likely to have well-educated parents or other resources to help them outside school, no matter where they live. The No Child Left Behind law provisions designed to help disadvantaged children have not been well implemented, he said.
"It's wrong to just blame schools," Gamoran said. "Accountability should be based on growth: How well did a school move a child along during the year, not just one score on one test."
Because the enrollment of disadvantaged students is small in wealthier districts, those failures can barely register on the overall school performance. But schools still are expected to help those students improve, and it is just as much of a challenge.
"I know there is the perception that it is all wealthier kids here," Mainland Regional High School Principal Robert Blake said. "But we have students from disadvantaged backgrounds, and we have to address their needs."
In 2008, 90 percent of all juniors at Mainland passed the language arts test, but only 64 percent of the small group of disadvantaged students passed. About 83 percent of all students passed the math test, but almost half the disadvantaged students failed.
When they talk about the challenges, Anderson and Blake sound very similar.
"The continuity of instruction is the biggest challenge," Blake said.
"Some students would not have to be classified (as special education) if they could just stay in one district long enough to catch up," Anderson said.
The new state school-funding formula is supposed to provide funding for all at-risk children, and preschool is being expanded to reach poor children in every district. But funding shortfalls may jeopardize those efforts.
"Children in poverty bring the disadvantages with them to school," said Lynne Strickland, director of the Garden State Coalition of Schools. "But funding for these kids in middle-income districts has been lagging."
Cecelia Zalkind, of the Association for Children of New Jersey, said children living in poverty often also have unmet health and psychological problems.
"It's a lot of baggage for the schools, and they can't remediate it all on their own," she said.
Wildwood already offers a full-day preschool program for 4-year olds and bilingual programs.
First-grade bilingual teacher Gen Sparano and her students at the Glenwood Avenue School do their lessons in English with Spanish backup where needed.
"How much is a dime?" Sparano asked in English.
"Diez (10)," came the answer from the class.
The students review the date and weather in English on a bulletin board set up in both languages. In second grade, they will be integrated into a regular class with extra time for English lessons.
Wildwood curriculum supervisor Susan Rohrman said disadvantaged students do succeed with extra time. Wildwood has received federal Reading First and 21st Century Learning Center grants to provide extra help that extends after school and into the summer. But both grants expire this year. Third-graders are doing a reading challenge that continues at home.
"Students need the supplemental programs to fill the gaps," Rohrman said.
Anderson said the Crest Memorial and Wildwood teachers collaborate, but overall the Crest students have the benefit of more stable home lives.
"We're really not doing that much different in the two districts," he said. "It is two different sets of kids, but they all want to succeed, and we have successes every day that don't show up on test scores. It can break your heart, and warm your heart, to see how hard they work."
E-mail Diane D'Amico: Damico@pressofatlanticity.com
Reforming high schools a slow process
By DIANE D'AMICO Education Writer, 609-272-7241
(Published: Saturday, February 07, 2009)
Bridgeton Superintendent H. Victor Gilson admits that on paper, his high school does not look very impressive - passing rates on statewide tests are still below average.
But four years into a reform project, he said he can see signs of im-provement.
"We have more students taking college prep and AP classes," he said. "More students are talking about going to college. But it can be hard to move test scores in high school."
That's true across the state. The average passing rate on the High School Profic-iency Assessment, or HSPA, in language arts has barely inched up a point since 2002. The passing rate for juniors taking the test in 2008 was 83 percent. There has been more progress on the math test, but the passing rate of 75 percent, while an improvement from 68.6 percent in 2002, is still not stellar.
As the state moves forward with new graduation requirements, and moves away from the HSPA to a series of end-of-course tests, concern has been rising that many high schools, especially those in poor, urban districts, are simply not ready to make such a drastic change and that students will suffer.
The passing rates among poor and minority students on the HSPA have been especially troubling. In 2008, only 65 percent of black students and 69 percent of Hispanic students passed the language arts test as juniors. Only 45 percent of black students and 57 percent of Hispanic students passed math.
Bridgeton has been grappling with a huge influx of Hispanic students coming from Mexico and South America. More than half the students in the district are Latino.
"We now have the largest bilingual program in the county," Gilson said.
Other local high schools also continue to struggle. More than half the juniors at Atlantic City and Pleasantville high schools failed the HSPA math section in 2008.
Education Commissioner Lucille Davy said high school reform is vital because too many students are graduating without the skills they need to compete for jobs and at college.
"Our goal is to have more students graduate and not need remedial courses in college," Davy said.
But advocates for children in the urban and vocational schools have challenged the reform plans, saying they may hurt rather than help many students, especially those who have not yet met the current standards. The proposal already requires this year's freshmen to take algebra I. Additional requirements would add geometry, algebra II, biology, chemistry and one additional lab science.
Stan Karp, director of the Secondary Reform Project of the Education Law Center, said at a state hearing last month that many high schools are not ready to offer the level of courses expected under the reform plans. He asked that the DOE have an "opportunity to learn" provision that no new exams will be mandated for graduation until the department can certify that all students have access to the courses and programs required to prepare for them.
While most high schools offer the new requirements, all students are not required to take them. A DOE survey found that while about 70 percent of the state's public high schools require biology, geometry and algebra I, only 45 percent require algebra II and 35 percent require chemistry. Mandating more lab science for all students would require the costly addition of more science labs in the schools.
Following the hearing, several state legislators introduced a bill in the Assembly that would require the DOE to submit an evaluation report to the Legislature before fully implementing the reform plan.
The county vocational schools also are concerned that increased requirements will prohibit many students from taking shared-time programs at the vocational schools because they just will not have the time. Some shared-time programs have been able to integrate math courses into the vocational trade programs, but that may no longer be possible under the reform model.
William Hoey Jr., superintendent of Ocean County Vocational School, said about 1,300 students attend shared-time programs.
"We are looking at integrating some of the academic courses into our course work," he said. "But the question is how to mix the academics with the trade areas."
He said if a student were to fail a mandated subject test, and have to repeat it, that alone could eliminate their ability to attend a vocational program.
Atlantic County Institute of Technology spokesman Charles Pritchard said one of the reasons it is expanding into a full-time high school is to accommodate students who might not be able to attend on a shared-time basis and still meet all the graduation requirements.
E-mail Diane D'Amico:
DDamico@pressofac.com
