Parents' Educational Network of Nutley (PENN)

Spring 2009 Test Results for Nutley School District

A Comparative Report

DATE:                        January 17, 2010

On Thursday, January 16, 2010, the New Jersey State Department of Education put on line the school and district results of the State-mandated tests taken by public school children in the Spring of 2009 (NJASK tests for Grades 3-8 and the HSPA for Grade 11).  

 Please view the data here:  

http://www.state.nj.us/education/schools/achievement/

How do Nutley’s test scores compare in Math and Language Arts?

The short answer is easily deduced from looking at the charts, below.  Comparatively, Nutley does fairly well through 8^th grade.  In fact, this year Nutley compares VERY well in 8^th grade.  But as with last year, the NHS results compare very UNFAVORABLY. The  incredible drop in performance from 8^th grade to 11^th grade deserves dramatic remedial efforts by NHS administration and staff.

Many may say test scores do not tell the whole story.  This is a truism with which I most heartedly agree.  But there are only a few objective ways of measuring the quality of a school district.  Indeed, there are only a few objective ways of measuring the aptitude and educational progress of an individual student.  Standardized testing is the most recognized objective measure, whether we like it or not.  It’s not perfect and it certainly is not perfectly accurate.  There just is not anything better, at least not yet.

Explanation of the Charts

The charts below show Nutley’s performance in comparison to other District Factor Groups (DFG) and the State as a whole.  Nutley’s DFG is FG.  The analysis also includes higher socio-economic DFG’s, GH, I, and J (J being the highest socio-economic DFG). 

Results are reported by the State in three categories:  Partial Proficient (“PP”), Proficient (“P”), and Advanced Proficient (“AP”).  The percentage of a particular class year or grade falling into each of these three categories is reported.  In unofficial parlance, “Partial Proficient” means a failing score and “Proficient” means a passing score. 

Each subject has two charts.  In one, I grouped the P and AP categories together to give a total “passing” reflection.  In another, I set out the AP category so as to compare our best performances with the best performances in the other DFG’s.  This category is the primary indicator of school district competitiveness and preparation toward college level work.

The State reports results for “All Students” taking the test as well as by numerous subgroups:  General Education students, Special Education students, male, female, race, etc.  The charts reflect the percentages for “All Students.”

To the extent there is any error in transmitting the data from the online source to the charts or compiling the data, the error is mine alone.   While I double-checked things, I would appreciate any error being reported to me.

General Impressions – MATH

1.  Through 8^th grade, Nutley’s total passage rate (P + AP) is consistently higher than the State’s and the FG & GH DFG’s; it is even higher than I DFG more than half the time.  There is a noticeable bounce with the 8^th grade scores such that even the J DFG is outperformed.   8^th Grades scores across the State bounce higher from 7^th to 8^th grade, but Nutley’s bounce is much greater.  In fact, it’s astounding!  Something very good happened in WMS between the 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 school years. 

2.  NHS continues to be a blot on the school district.  The passing rate plummets from 92.7% in 8^th grade to 74.1% in 11^th grade while performance in the State and higher DFG’s improve from 8^th to 11^th grade (they are about the same in the FG DFG).  The 11^th grade passing rate is lower than our own DFG and just barely above the State score.

3.  With the exception of the 8^th grade results, the percentage of students performing in the Advanced Proficient group is disappointing.  In other words, of the students passing the State tests, we have fewer in the top group most of the time than the GH and the higher DFG’s (again except for 8^th grade).  More disappointing is the number of Nutley 11^th graders in this group is lower than our own FG DFG and the State.

4.  While alone these results are not the end-all on the state of Math at NHS, something is terribly amiss at NHS. 

Language Arts

1. From 4^th grade through 8^th grade, Nutley students outperforms our own FG DFG and the higher GH DFG; in most of these years, it even exceeds or equals the I DFG. 

2.  As with the Math scores, our high school Language Arts scores plummet in comparison to the DFG’s in my study.  Our passage rate is lower than our own FG DFG and all higher DFG’s; it is just barely above the State’s passage rate. 

3.  Also as with the Math scores, the percentage of Nutley students performing at the Advanced Proficient level is disappointing.  Our performance generally parallels the GH DFG through 6^th grade, but dips below GH from 7^th through 11^th grades.  We do, however, consistently place more students in Advance Proficient group than our own FG DFG and the State. 

4.  While alone these results are not the end-all on the state of Language Arts at NHS, I must again conclude that something is terribly amiss at NHS.