P'burg
pupils meet federal standards
They exceed No Child Left Behind cutoffs in
math, language arts.
Tuesday, July 13, 2004 • By LINDA LISANTI • The
Express-Times
PHILLIPSBURG -- For the first time since the federal No
Child Left Behind Act took effect in 2002, Phillipsburg's
fourth-graders reached the cutoffs for both math and
language arts this year, according to preliminary state
data.
Director of Elementary Education Pat Cawley presented
the school board Monday night with the preliminary results
from the 2004 New Jersey Assessment of Skills and Knowledge
test, which all fourth-graders at the Green Street and
Andover-Morris schools took in March.
The data show that 68.7 percent of the district's 195
fourth-graders scored proficient or advanced proficient in
language arts.
The cutoff is 68 percent, Cawley said.
In 2003, 63.8 percent of the district's 191
fourth-graders reached the same mark, according to state's
2002-03 school report card.
The district posted the largest gains in math.
This year, 58.5 percent of the district's fourth-graders
scored proficient or advanced in math, according to the
preliminary state results.
The cutoff is 53 percent, Cawley said.
Last year, 49.5 percent of the students reached the
mark, according to the school report card.
The district also saw an increase this year in the
percentage of students who scored advanced proficient in
math, from 10.4 percent in 2003 to 16.4 percent in 2004,
preliminary data show.
"Those are substantial gains," Cawley said.
He attributed the improvements to the new research-based
math curriculum the school district introduced in September
2002 for the purpose of boosting lagging test scores.
The new math curriculum challenges students not only to
do the calculations but also to learn the thought processes
behind them. After-school math and English programs were
also implemented.
The district introduced a new research-based language
arts curriculum three years ago.
The school district this year also reached "safe harbor"
status in all subgroups for language arts and all but one
subgroup for math, Cawley said. To attain safe harbor
status, each subgroup must post a gain of 10 percent over
the previous year.
Subgroups include genders and ethnicities.
Cawley refused to say which subgroup failed to reach the
mark in math, adding that he thinks it is wrong to single
out certain ethnic groups as performing better than other
ethnic groups.
Overall, he said, the data were favorable.
"We're doing well," he told the school board.
Crawley said that once the final test scores are
received -- likely in the fall -- he will come before the
board with more in-depth comparisons.
The district will be closely analyzing the results to
make sure the gains continue, he said.
Under the No Child Left Behind Act, every student must
be proficient in language arts and math by 2014. Proficiency
levels are set each year and when students do not meet the
proficiency levels, their schools face state sanctions.
Reporter Linda Lisanti can be reached at 610-258-7171 or by
e-mail at llisanti@express-times.com.
Copyright 2004 The
Express-Times. Used with permission.
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