Among Warren County schools, the Great Meadows Regional Middle School and the Frelinghuysen Township schools also ranked high in the New Jersey performance reports.
View full sizeHackettstown High School The Hackettstown High School was among the highest-ranking Warren County schools under the New Jersey School Performance Reports released earlier this month.
The Franklin Township School was the county’s lowest-ranking school in terms of academic achievement, and the Phillipsburg high and middle schools also ranked low in several different categories.
The Great Meadows Regional Middle School and the Frelinghuysen Township, Willow Grove, Hope Township and Knowlton Township elementary schools were other high-ranking county schools for the 2011-12 school year.
On the other end of the spectrum, the Washington Memorial Elementary School, Lopatcong Township Elementary School and the Third Street and Oxford Street elementary schools in Belvidere were among other low-ranking schools.
Previously called New Jersey School Report Cards, the performance reports have been revised to evaluate academic performance not just compared to other schools statewide, but also to other peer schools with similar students and socioeconomic backgrounds.
The new performance reports also measure how student achievement has grown year over year, and how well schools are preparing its students for “career and college readiness.”
High, low performing schools
Phillipsburg High School
The schools are judged based on the percentile in which they rank, both statewide and compared to their peer schools.
The Hackettstown High School and Frelinghuysen Township Elementary School tied for the county’s highest academically performing schools, both ranking in the top 9 percent among peer schools.
The Frelinghuysen school did even better in the statewide comparison, ranking among the top 4 percent.
The Hackettstown middle and high schools ranked statewide in the top 19 percent and 24 percent, respectively, and the Great Meadows Regional Middle School also ranked in the top 19 percent.
In contrast, the Franklin Township School was one of the lowest performing schools in the county, falling in the bottom 3 percent among peer schools and the bottom 25 percent statewide.
The Washington Memorial Elementary School had the second-worst peer rank (in the bottom 10 percent) and the county’s worst statewide rank (in the bottom 15 percent).
Not all Warren County school officials believe the performance reports are the most accurate measure of a school’s performance.
Washington Borough School District Superintendent Lance Rozsa said the reports rely too heavily on standardized exam scores, and that districts such as Washington with a large number of poor students are at a disadvantage.
He said about 39 percent of the district’s students are socioeconomically disadvantaged.
The state sought this year to compare apples to apples by comparing peer schools with similar populations of socioeconomically disadvantaged, special education and limited English proficiency students.
But Rozsa said the reports do not take into account how much economic support the districts get, so a wealthy school and poorer school may be compared to each other simply based on their student populations.
College and career readiness
The reports judge college and career readiness based on factors such as chronic absenteeism, SAT scores, advanced placement courses and Algebra I, which is considered an early predictor of a student’s ability at rigorous coursework.
The Willow Grove Elementary School in Hackettstown and the Franklin Township School ranked highest for college and career readiness, both with the highest possible ranking among peer schools.
The Third Street Elementary School in Belvidere ranked lowest in the county, falling in the bottom 3 percent, and the Blairstown and Washington Memorial elementary schools fell in the bottom 6 percent.
In terms of student growth, the Frelinghuysen Township Elementary School ranked highest in the county, ranking in the top 1 percent among peer schools.
View full sizeGeorge Chando The Warren Hills Regional and Phillipsburg middle schools ranked lowest in that category, each ranking in the bottom 4 percent.
Phillipsburg Superintendent George Chando said because these rankings are based on the previous school year’s results, the district has already made substantial changes to improve the middle school program.
This includes adding a common time to student schedules to focus on reading and math, as well as new math and literacy programs and curriculum realignments.
Chando also said the district is reviewing whether some of the data submissions used in compiling the reports were marked properly.
“This is the first year of this reporting mechanism,” Chando said. “As (the state) itself notes, data collected in the first year is often less reliable than that collected in subsequent years.”
Nadia Inskeep, Hackettstown’s director of curriculum and instruction, said the new reports give districts more details about potential improvement areas, but feels mixed on how reflective they are of a school’s performance.
For example, she said the tests consider factors such as PSAT exams and AP courses, which are optional for students, but do not consider instances where students receive actual college credits, such as partnerships the Hackettstown district has with Centenary College.
New Jersey Performance Reports - Warren County
Contact reporter Colin McEvoy at 610-258-7171 ex. 3631 or cmcevoy@express-times.com.
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