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2-7-8 State Assessment test articles
Read to see how different newspapers have different takes on test results................... New York Times, Associated Press, Gannett State Bureau, Star Ledger, Press of Atlantic City
NEW YORK TIMES February 7, 2008 New Jersey Test Scores Show Math Gains By WINNIE HU New Jersey public school students performed better on last year's statewide math tests than the previous year, even in middle schools where test scores have traditionally fallen short, according to results released Wednesday by the state's Education Department. The single largest gain was in sixth-grade math, with 79 percent of students passing in 2007 compared to 70.8 percent in 2006, according to the data. Seventh- and eighth-grade students also improved in math: 66.3 percent of seventh-graders passed, up from 64.2 percent in 2006, and 68.4 percent of eighth-graders passed compared with 64.5 percent in 2006. But at the same time, middle school students made little, if any, progress in language arts: 75.8 percent of sixth-graders passed and 80.1 percent of seventh-graders, both virtually unchanged from the year before. Meanwhile, the percentage of eighth-graders who passed dipped slightly to 73.6 percent from 74.3 percent in 2006. As a group, the elementary students—in grades three, four and five—performed the best overall, with at least 80 percent of each grade passing in both math and language arts and, for fourth-grade, in science as well. The highest passing rates were 88.8 percent in fifth-grade language arts, followed by 87.3 percent in third-grade math. Each of these grade levels registered gains between 1 and 3 percent, continuing a trend upward in recent years. The statewide test results come as New Jersey education officials are working to implement a new school financing formula that was approved by Gov. Jon S. Corzine and the Legislature last month. The new formula will shift more resources to poor and minority students outside of traditional inner-city districts, which are known as Abbott districts after a landmark school equity case. The formula will also expand free preschool programs in many working-class communities. Based on the 2007 test results, a total of 618 schools—or more than one-quarter of the state's 2,430 public schools—were cited ein August for failing to meet testing benchmarks established under the federal No Child Left Behind law. There were 643 schools cited the year before. Test results have become increasingly critical to districts because schools that repeatedly fail to meet federal testing benchmarks face increasing discipline, ranging from limits on how they can spend federal Monday to steps they must take to improve student performance. In some cases, schools have been completely restructured, with the principal, administrators and teachers replaced. In Union City, the 10,000-student district has shifted more attention and resources to its middle schools and expanded upon initiatives that have already proven successful in its well-regarded elementary schools. In 2007, the district's passing rate in sixth-grade math jumped to 83.9 percent—or well above the statewide average of 79 percent—from 63.6 percent the year before. Stanley M. Singer, the superintendent, said that the district has been revising its curriculum to better cover skills that are required on the tests. In 2006, the district also started giving its own assessments in math and language arts to every student every eight weeks to monitor their progress and identify areas for additional instruction. "It's very rewarding, and it's a lot of hard work," Mr. Sanger said. Associated Press News – February 7 2008 For high achieving groups, N.J. standardized test scores stagnate 2/6/2008, 5:21 p.m. EST By GEOFF MULVIHILL The Associated Press MOUNT LAUREL, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey students perform better than most on standardized tests, but test results released by the state on Wednesday point to a challenge that could be looming: How to go from getting most kids to pass to getting them all to pass. Under the No Child Left Behind education law, which President Bush is asking Congress to reauthorize, schools could lose federal funding or face other sanctions if all students are not scoring at grade level by the 2013-14 school year. When the law was adopted six years ago, the 2013-14 goals seemed distant; now they're starting to come into focus for educators. Advertisement In New Jersey, performance on some exams seems to have reached plateaus — especially among higher-performing demographic groups. "You may be getting a reality check that Congress needs to take a look at," said Lynne Strickland, executive director of the Garden State Coalition of Schools, a group that represents 150 school districts, most of them suburban. New Jersey's education officials do not sound especially optimistic about meeting the federal mandate, if it remains in place. Deputy Education Commissioner Willa Spicer said Wednesday that teaching is improving statewide, and that should help meet the goal. "Whether it will work before 2014, I don't know," she said. The results from tests given to New Jersey students at several grade levels show that performance on literacy tests has been largely stagnant. Last March, 80.6 percent of the state's fourth-graders passed a language arts test. Overall, students have hardly shown any progress, though. In 2001, 79 percent of students passed. For high achieving groups, N.J. standardized test scores stagnate Page 2 of 2 The lack of progress can be seen mostly among the top-scoring demographic groups. While black, Hispanic and special education students, along with children who are not native English speakers, have advanced on the tests since 2001, white and Asian students have held steady. For instance, 88.3 percent of white fourth-graders passed in 2001. In 2007, it was virtually unchanged, with 88.2 percent passing. Advertisement Math scores, meanwhile, have been trending up for students at levels below high school — possibly because there has been much more room for improvement. In 1999, 60 percent of fourth-graders scored at least at the "proficient" level on a statewide math test. Last year, 85 percent passed. The only area where students performed markedly worse in 2007 than in 2006 on the state tests was in 11th-grade math. Over a longer timeframe, though, the high school math scores have been trending upward. State Education Commissioner Lucille M. Davy said that coming changes in the way New Jersey allocates aid to schools could help push the passage rate closer to 100 percent in time. Currently, the state pays for full-day preschool for 3- and 4-year-olds in 31 of the state's poorest communities. The preschools have been given credit for dramatic improvements in the reading of children in those cities. Starting in two years, the state plans to offer similar programs to all low-income children, regardless of where they live. "That may help us close that final gap where students are not proficient," Davy said. But it won't be until the 2014-15 school year — a year after the 100 percent proficiency requirement — that the students starting in the newly created preschools as 3-year-olds will reach third grade, when standardized testing begins. ___ On the Net: State assessment reports: http://www.nj.gov/education/schools/achievement/2008/ Asbury Park Press: February 7, 2008 Tests show Abbotts not improving By GREGORY J. VOLPE GANNETT STATE BUREAU New Jersey's public school students showed improvements in language, math and science in 2007, according to state standardized test results released Wednesday by the state Department of Education. The percentage of students passing standardized tests given in grades 3 through 8 and 11 increased in all categories except for nominal declines in seventh- and eighth-grade language arts and eighth-grade science. "Clearly, we're not happy with any decline at all, no matter how small it is," Education Commissioner Lucille Davy said. "... That's a concern in and of itself, but what concerns me more is that the high school performance over time is relatively flat, and that's not what we see pretty much every where else across the board." Education officials pointed to gains among special education, limited English-speaking and minority students as proof that early education and other initiatives for at-risk pupils are helping to narrow achievement gaps. Results in the Abbott districts aren't improving, according to David Sciarra, executive director of the Education Law Center. "We were making progress up until 2004, and for the last two years they've either gone down and this year they're pretty much flat," said Sciarra, adding it is troubling in that the new school funding formula limits the aid increases the state's poorest districts have received in the past. Willa Spicer, a deputy education commissioner, said the new funding formula won't hinder the progress of past years in the Abbott districts. "If the school systems can keep their eye on the prize, if they remember that the mission of the school is for children to be able to read and write and do mathematics at the level required by the state of New Jersey, I do not believe we will lose anything in our progress in the Abbott districts," Spicer said. One of the largest gains came among the percentage of students who went from "proficient' to "advanced proficient' in fourth- and eighth-grade science. In 2006, 27.8 percent of fourth graders were advanced proficient, and last year 40.8 percent were. The share of "advanced' eighth graders also rose from 20.5 percent to 24.6 percent. This was the first year high schoolers were tested in science. "That probably indicates better science teaching," said Davy, who noted businesses in New Jersey have invested in educational programs because of the importance science plays in the future. "... My sense is improvement in science is because folks are paying a lot of attention to science because they know how important it is." Education officials cautioned that the results represent a snapshot of student performance. "This is one moment in time," Spicer said. "We don't know what would happen if we gave that test the next week. This is what happens right now." The tests, an omnipresent but ever-morphing aspect of education used to gauge federal No Child Left Behind benchmarks, are given each spring. Among the changes for this spring will be Spanish versions of the tests given for non-English speaking students in grades 5 through 8. — On the Web: www.nj.gov/education/schools/achievement/2008 ________________________________________ Star Ledger - Test scores show strides in most N.J. schools Thursday, February 07, 2008 BY JOHN MOONEY Star-Ledger Staff Student test scores rose in most of New Jersey's public schools last year, with the biggest gains in elementary and middle school math but only small, if any, progress in language arts and science. In scores that are the chief judge of school quality, there were some encouraging signs. Black and Hispanic students continued to close the so-called achievement gap in some grades, gaining ground on their white and Asian counterparts. Where less than half of minority fourth-graders were proficient in math in 1999, the passing rates rose to three-quarters of Hispanic students and two-thirds of black students in 2007. Overall, almost two-thirds of all schools saw math scores improve last year with the statewide passing rates continuing a steady and sometimes-dramatic rise, according to results released by the state yesterday. For instance, 84.7 percent of fourth-graders passed math tests, up from just 60 percent in 1999. "We see continued progress, particularly at the elementary school level," said state Education Commissioner Lucille Davy in an afternoon press conference. "The news is very encouraging ...There are good signs across the board." But not all the news was good. Language arts scores continue to show little improvement over much of the last decade. Eighty percent of fourth-graders passed in language arts, just 1 percentage point higher than in 2001. The eighth-grade rate has actually dropped in that time to 74 percent, and high school has risen slightly to about 85 percent. In the state's science tests, scores also remained mostly unchanged, with only a slight majority of schools seeing gains from last year. In the first year of the high school science test, only 73.7 percent of students passed, one of the lowest passing rates of any of the tests. The tests are administered by the state in Grades 3 through 8 and 11. Passing the high school test is required for graduation, and the scores in every grade are often critical to how a school is judged within its community and under the federal No Child Left Behind Act. Variations in test scores cut predictably across socioeconomic lines. For instance, 95 percent of fourth-graders in the state's richest districts passed the language arts test, while just 62 percent passed in the poorest communities. Davy emphasized some gains seen in the low-income districts falling under the Abbott v. Burke mandates, and her staff said they should continue to see progress under a new funding formula that erases the special designation and instead directs additional state aid to all districts with poor students. The state Supreme Court has yet to approve the new approach. The chief lawyer for the Abbott schoolchildren has been critical of the state's new funding plan, and he argued yesterday the new scores are evidence of neglect. "This is the second year of virtually flat results," said David Sciarra, director of the Education Law Center. "That's a very troubling sign, especially as the Department of Education in the last year has been removing itself from providing the kinds of resource and supports that are needed." The very highest achieving schools in the state continue to be the magnet high schools that operate through the county vocational districts, 10 of which saw every one of their students pass in math, language arts and science. The only other with a perfect 100 percent passing rate in all three tests was School 14 in Bayonne, also a magnet program. John Mooney may be reached at jmooney@starledger.com, or 973-392-1548. Press of Atlantic City: State test results reveal middle school slide By DIANE D'AMICO Education Writer, 609-272-7241 Published: Thursday, February 7, 2008 Click here for state test results TRENTON - The state Department of Education has nine years of test results for eighth-graders - and they're nothing to get excited about. The test, called the Grade Eight Proficiency Assessment, or GEPA, has been administered since 1999, and results over time show little progress. The statewide math passing rate has improved 7 percent, to a still disappointing 68.4 percent. The language arts passing rate actually has dropped a few points from 77.3 percent to 73.7 percent. The state DOE on Wednesday released the results of the 2007 state tests in grades three through eight and 11. The results show gains are being maintained in elementary school, but passing rates drop off in the middle grades and are holding about even in high school. "We are encouraged by the progress in elementary school," Education Commissioner Lucille Davy said Wednesday. "But there are issues at the high school level. Working with students who are well below grade level is a difficult task, and high school test performance over time is also relatively flat." Davy was especially pleased with improvements in the elementary level passing rate for special education students, as well as minority children, most of whom live in the state's poorest districts. But they are still passing at a far lower rate than the general student population, and the minimum passing rate required to meet federal No Child Left Behind regulations increases this year. But Davy said a new secondary school-reform initiative will have to begin with the middle school curriculum. Test results show a substantial drop in passing rates starting in sixth grade. While test results improve a bit in high school, there is concern that many struggling students already have dropped out, mentally if not physically. "You can't go through grades six through eight without continuing to develop, then expect to get to high school and have them fix it all," she said. Deputy Commissioner Willa Spicer said the improvements at the elementary level show that better instruction in the classroom generates better test results, and that improvement now must expand to the middle schools. The state's new licensing code already requires middle school teachers to be certified in the specific subject area they teach. But more steps must be taken to align the teaching with the state standards. Davy said she believes the preschool programs in the state's poorest districts have contributed to improved test scores in elementary school by giving those children the head start they need to succeed and compete with their suburban counterparts. The goal is to continue that progress. "My hope is that as we expand preschool it will reach those who still need help closing the gap," she said. Expanding state funding to reach at-risk children no matter where they live is a cornerstone of the state's new school funding formula. Gov. Jon S. Corzine has repeatedly said that almost half of the so-called "at risk" students in the state do not live in the 31 urban special needs Abbott districts, but are spread throughout the state, and they also need the extra services. Most of those students do live in other poor or working-class districts, but even the wealthiest districts have a few hundred children who are eligible for the federal free or reduced-fee meal program, the gauge used to determine whether a child is disadvantaged. And those children do not perform as well on state tests, no matter where they live. The state tests are also changing to align better with state education standards. The DOE is planning to phase out the High School Proficiency Assessment, replacing it with "end of course" exams in specific subjects. This year high school students who are taking biology will take a new state biology test. Students in grades five through eight will also get new tests this year, with shorter reading sections, more variety of content in the readings and more questions to answer. State Director of Assessment Timothy Peters said the shorter reading passages allow the state to double the number of test questions without lengthening the time of the tests. "It will give us more information about student achievement," he said. The math test will not change as dramatically, but most multiple-choice items are being replaced with short-answer questions. The state will have the new tests available in Spanish for designated Limited English students. New tests for grades three and four will begin in 2009. To e-mail Diane D'Amico at The Press: DDamico@pressofac.com COMING UP FRIDAY: Local test results for grades three and four SATURDAY: Local test results for grades five, six and seven SUNDAY: Local test results for the High School Proficiency Assessment MONDAY: Local test results for grade eight
Read to see how different newspapers have different takes on test results................... New York Times, Associated Press, Gannett State Bureau, Star Ledger, Press of Atlantic City
NEW YORK TIMES February 7, 2008 New Jersey Test Scores Show Math Gains By WINNIE HU New Jersey public school students performed better on last year's statewide math tests than the previous year, even in middle schools where test scores have traditionally fallen short, according to results released Wednesday by the state's Education Department. The single largest gain was in sixth-grade math, with 79 percent of students passing in 2007 compared to 70.8 percent in 2006, according to the data. Seventh- and eighth-grade students also improved in math: 66.3 percent of seventh-graders passed, up from 64.2 percent in 2006, and 68.4 percent of eighth-graders passed compared with 64.5 percent in 2006. But at the same time, middle school students made little, if any, progress in language arts: 75.8 percent of sixth-graders passed and 80.1 percent of seventh-graders, both virtually unchanged from the year before. Meanwhile, the percentage of eighth-graders who passed dipped slightly to 73.6 percent from 74.3 percent in 2006. As a group, the elementary students—in grades three, four and five—performed the best overall, with at least 80 percent of each grade passing in both math and language arts and, for fourth-grade, in science as well. The highest passing rates were 88.8 percent in fifth-grade language arts, followed by 87.3 percent in third-grade math. Each of these grade levels registered gains between 1 and 3 percent, continuing a trend upward in recent years. The statewide test results come as New Jersey education officials are working to implement a new school financing formula that was approved by Gov. Jon S. Corzine and the Legislature last month. The new formula will shift more resources to poor and minority students outside of traditional inner-city districts, which are known as Abbott districts after a landmark school equity case. The formula will also expand free preschool programs in many working-class communities. Based on the 2007 test results, a total of 618 schools—or more than one-quarter of the state's 2,430 public schools—were cited ein August for failing to meet testing benchmarks established under the federal No Child Left Behind law. There were 643 schools cited the year before. Test results have become increasingly critical to districts because schools that repeatedly fail to meet federal testing benchmarks face increasing discipline, ranging from limits on how they can spend federal Monday to steps they must take to improve student performance. In some cases, schools have been completely restructured, with the principal, administrators and teachers replaced. In Union City, the 10,000-student district has shifted more attention and resources to its middle schools and expanded upon initiatives that have already proven successful in its well-regarded elementary schools. In 2007, the district's passing rate in sixth-grade math jumped to 83.9 percent—or well above the statewide average of 79 percent—from 63.6 percent the year before. Stanley M. Singer, the superintendent, said that the district has been revising its curriculum to better cover skills that are required on the tests. In 2006, the district also started giving its own assessments in math and language arts to every student every eight weeks to monitor their progress and identify areas for additional instruction. "It's very rewarding, and it's a lot of hard work," Mr. Sanger said. Associated Press News – February 7 2008 For high achieving groups, N.J. standardized test scores stagnate 2/6/2008, 5:21 p.m. EST By GEOFF MULVIHILL The Associated Press MOUNT LAUREL, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey students perform better than most on standardized tests, but test results released by the state on Wednesday point to a challenge that could be looming: How to go from getting most kids to pass to getting them all to pass. Under the No Child Left Behind education law, which President Bush is asking Congress to reauthorize, schools could lose federal funding or face other sanctions if all students are not scoring at grade level by the 2013-14 school year. When the law was adopted six years ago, the 2013-14 goals seemed distant; now they're starting to come into focus for educators. Advertisement In New Jersey, performance on some exams seems to have reached plateaus — especially among higher-performing demographic groups. "You may be getting a reality check that Congress needs to take a look at," said Lynne Strickland, executive director of the Garden State Coalition of Schools, a group that represents 150 school districts, most of them suburban. New Jersey's education officials do not sound especially optimistic about meeting the federal mandate, if it remains in place. Deputy Education Commissioner Willa Spicer said Wednesday that teaching is improving statewide, and that should help meet the goal. "Whether it will work before 2014, I don't know," she said. The results from tests given to New Jersey students at several grade levels show that performance on literacy tests has been largely stagnant. Last March, 80.6 percent of the state's fourth-graders passed a language arts test. Overall, students have hardly shown any progress, though. In 2001, 79 percent of students passed. For high achieving groups, N.J. standardized test scores stagnate Page 2 of 2 The lack of progress can be seen mostly among the top-scoring demographic groups. While black, Hispanic and special education students, along with children who are not native English speakers, have advanced on the tests since 2001, white and Asian students have held steady. For instance, 88.3 percent of white fourth-graders passed in 2001. In 2007, it was virtually unchanged, with 88.2 percent passing. Advertisement Math scores, meanwhile, have been trending up for students at levels below high school — possibly because there has been much more room for improvement. In 1999, 60 percent of fourth-graders scored at least at the "proficient" level on a statewide math test. Last year, 85 percent passed. The only area where students performed markedly worse in 2007 than in 2006 on the state tests was in 11th-grade math. Over a longer timeframe, though, the high school math scores have been trending upward. State Education Commissioner Lucille M. Davy said that coming changes in the way New Jersey allocates aid to schools could help push the passage rate closer to 100 percent in time. Currently, the state pays for full-day preschool for 3- and 4-year-olds in 31 of the state's poorest communities. The preschools have been given credit for dramatic improvements in the reading of children in those cities. Starting in two years, the state plans to offer similar programs to all low-income children, regardless of where they live. "That may help us close that final gap where students are not proficient," Davy said. But it won't be until the 2014-15 school year — a year after the 100 percent proficiency requirement — that the students starting in the newly created preschools as 3-year-olds will reach third grade, when standardized testing begins. ___ On the Net: State assessment reports: http://www.nj.gov/education/schools/achievement/2008/ Asbury Park Press: February 7, 2008 Tests show Abbotts not improving By GREGORY J. VOLPE GANNETT STATE BUREAU New Jersey's public school students showed improvements in language, math and science in 2007, according to state standardized test results released Wednesday by the state Department of Education. The percentage of students passing standardized tests given in grades 3 through 8 and 11 increased in all categories except for nominal declines in seventh- and eighth-grade language arts and eighth-grade science. "Clearly, we're not happy with any decline at all, no matter how small it is," Education Commissioner Lucille Davy said. "... That's a concern in and of itself, but what concerns me more is that the high school performance over time is relatively flat, and that's not what we see pretty much every where else across the board." Education officials pointed to gains among special education, limited English-speaking and minority students as proof that early education and other initiatives for at-risk pupils are helping to narrow achievement gaps. Results in the Abbott districts aren't improving, according to David Sciarra, executive director of the Education Law Center. "We were making progress up until 2004, and for the last two years they've either gone down and this year they're pretty much flat," said Sciarra, adding it is troubling in that the new school funding formula limits the aid increases the state's poorest districts have received in the past. Willa Spicer, a deputy education commissioner, said the new funding formula won't hinder the progress of past years in the Abbott districts. "If the school systems can keep their eye on the prize, if they remember that the mission of the school is for children to be able to read and write and do mathematics at the level required by the state of New Jersey, I do not believe we will lose anything in our progress in the Abbott districts," Spicer said. One of the largest gains came among the percentage of students who went from "proficient' to "advanced proficient' in fourth- and eighth-grade science. In 2006, 27.8 percent of fourth graders were advanced proficient, and last year 40.8 percent were. The share of "advanced' eighth graders also rose from 20.5 percent to 24.6 percent. This was the first year high schoolers were tested in science. "That probably indicates better science teaching," said Davy, who noted businesses in New Jersey have invested in educational programs because of the importance science plays in the future. "... My sense is improvement in science is because folks are paying a lot of attention to science because they know how important it is." Education officials cautioned that the results represent a snapshot of student performance. "This is one moment in time," Spicer said. "We don't know what would happen if we gave that test the next week. This is what happens right now." The tests, an omnipresent but ever-morphing aspect of education used to gauge federal No Child Left Behind benchmarks, are given each spring. Among the changes for this spring will be Spanish versions of the tests given for non-English speaking students in grades 5 through 8. — On the Web: www.nj.gov/education/schools/achievement/2008 ________________________________________ Star Ledger - Test scores show strides in most N.J. schools Thursday, February 07, 2008 BY JOHN MOONEY Star-Ledger Staff Student test scores rose in most of New Jersey's public schools last year, with the biggest gains in elementary and middle school math but only small, if any, progress in language arts and science. In scores that are the chief judge of school quality, there were some encouraging signs. Black and Hispanic students continued to close the so-called achievement gap in some grades, gaining ground on their white and Asian counterparts. Where less than half of minority fourth-graders were proficient in math in 1999, the passing rates rose to three-quarters of Hispanic students and two-thirds of black students in 2007. Overall, almost two-thirds of all schools saw math scores improve last year with the statewide passing rates continuing a steady and sometimes-dramatic rise, according to results released by the state yesterday. For instance, 84.7 percent of fourth-graders passed math tests, up from just 60 percent in 1999. "We see continued progress, particularly at the elementary school level," said state Education Commissioner Lucille Davy in an afternoon press conference. "The news is very encouraging ...There are good signs across the board." But not all the news was good. Language arts scores continue to show little improvement over much of the last decade. Eighty percent of fourth-graders passed in language arts, just 1 percentage point higher than in 2001. The eighth-grade rate has actually dropped in that time to 74 percent, and high school has risen slightly to about 85 percent. In the state's science tests, scores also remained mostly unchanged, with only a slight majority of schools seeing gains from last year. In the first year of the high school science test, only 73.7 percent of students passed, one of the lowest passing rates of any of the tests. The tests are administered by the state in Grades 3 through 8 and 11. Passing the high school test is required for graduation, and the scores in every grade are often critical to how a school is judged within its community and under the federal No Child Left Behind Act. Variations in test scores cut predictably across socioeconomic lines. For instance, 95 percent of fourth-graders in the state's richest districts passed the language arts test, while just 62 percent passed in the poorest communities. Davy emphasized some gains seen in the low-income districts falling under the Abbott v. Burke mandates, and her staff said they should continue to see progress under a new funding formula that erases the special designation and instead directs additional state aid to all districts with poor students. The state Supreme Court has yet to approve the new approach. The chief lawyer for the Abbott schoolchildren has been critical of the state's new funding plan, and he argued yesterday the new scores are evidence of neglect. "This is the second year of virtually flat results," said David Sciarra, director of the Education Law Center. "That's a very troubling sign, especially as the Department of Education in the last year has been removing itself from providing the kinds of resource and supports that are needed." The very highest achieving schools in the state continue to be the magnet high schools that operate through the county vocational districts, 10 of which saw every one of their students pass in math, language arts and science. The only other with a perfect 100 percent passing rate in all three tests was School 14 in Bayonne, also a magnet program. John Mooney may be reached at jmooney@starledger.com, or 973-392-1548. Press of Atlantic City: State test results reveal middle school slide By DIANE D'AMICO Education Writer, 609-272-7241 Published: Thursday, February 7, 2008 Click here for state test results TRENTON - The state Department of Education has nine years of test results for eighth-graders - and they're nothing to get excited about. The test, called the Grade Eight Proficiency Assessment, or GEPA, has been administered since 1999, and results over time show little progress. The statewide math passing rate has improved 7 percent, to a still disappointing 68.4 percent. The language arts passing rate actually has dropped a few points from 77.3 percent to 73.7 percent. The state DOE on Wednesday released the results of the 2007 state tests in grades three through eight and 11. The results show gains are being maintained in elementary school, but passing rates drop off in the middle grades and are holding about even in high school. "We are encouraged by the progress in elementary school," Education Commissioner Lucille Davy said Wednesday. "But there are issues at the high school level. Working with students who are well below grade level is a difficult task, and high school test performance over time is also relatively flat." Davy was especially pleased with improvements in the elementary level passing rate for special education students, as well as minority children, most of whom live in the state's poorest districts. But they are still passing at a far lower rate than the general student population, and the minimum passing rate required to meet federal No Child Left Behind regulations increases this year. But Davy said a new secondary school-reform initiative will have to begin with the middle school curriculum. Test results show a substantial drop in passing rates starting in sixth grade. While test results improve a bit in high school, there is concern that many struggling students already have dropped out, mentally if not physically. "You can't go through grades six through eight without continuing to develop, then expect to get to high school and have them fix it all," she said. Deputy Commissioner Willa Spicer said the improvements at the elementary level show that better instruction in the classroom generates better test results, and that improvement now must expand to the middle schools. The state's new licensing code already requires middle school teachers to be certified in the specific subject area they teach. But more steps must be taken to align the teaching with the state standards. Davy said she believes the preschool programs in the state's poorest districts have contributed to improved test scores in elementary school by giving those children the head start they need to succeed and compete with their suburban counterparts. The goal is to continue that progress. "My hope is that as we expand preschool it will reach those who still need help closing the gap," she said. Expanding state funding to reach at-risk children no matter where they live is a cornerstone of the state's new school funding formula. Gov. Jon S. Corzine has repeatedly said that almost half of the so-called "at risk" students in the state do not live in the 31 urban special needs Abbott districts, but are spread throughout the state, and they also need the extra services. Most of those students do live in other poor or working-class districts, but even the wealthiest districts have a few hundred children who are eligible for the federal free or reduced-fee meal program, the gauge used to determine whether a child is disadvantaged. And those children do not perform as well on state tests, no matter where they live. The state tests are also changing to align better with state education standards. The DOE is planning to phase out the High School Proficiency Assessment, replacing it with "end of course" exams in specific subjects. This year high school students who are taking biology will take a new state biology test. Students in grades five through eight will also get new tests this year, with shorter reading sections, more variety of content in the readings and more questions to answer. State Director of Assessment Timothy Peters said the shorter reading passages allow the state to double the number of test questions without lengthening the time of the tests. "It will give us more information about student achievement," he said. The math test will not change as dramatically, but most multiple-choice items are being replaced with short-answer questions. The state will have the new tests available in Spanish for designated Limited English students. New tests for grades three and four will begin in 2009. To e-mail Diane D'Amico at The Press: DDamico@pressofac.com COMING UP FRIDAY: Local test results for grades three and four SATURDAY: Local test results for grades five, six and seven SUNDAY: Local test results for the High School Proficiency Assessment MONDAY: Local test results for grade eight
