Eight schools in Warren County and five in Hunterdon fall short of federal standards, new state report says

Friday, January 15, 2010
By DOUGLAS B. BRILL
The Express-Times

All but one Warren County high school fell short of No Child Left Behind standards during the 2008-09 school year, and Phillipsburg schools are in need of improvement, according to statistics released Thursday by the New Jersey Department of Education.

The statistics measure benchmarks known as adequate yearly progress at all of the state's public schools, including 55 in Warren County and 68 in Hunterdon County.

Eight schools in Warren and five in Hunterdon missed the standards. Most of the deficiencies were among students with disabilities.

Belvidere High School was the only Warren County high school to meet all standards.

Among Warren and Hunterdon schools, the statistics were most dire for Phillipsburg. Three schools in that district failed to meet standards, and two continued long stints on a federal list of schools that need improvement.

Phillipsburg Middle School and Phillipsburg High School have been on that list a combined 12 years. But district administrators say the schools come closer each year to getting off of it.

"We're very much in tune with it. We know where the problems are and we're focused on them," said Marian Trapani, the district's director of research, curriculum and development. "We're always looking at what we can do."

The high school missed adequate yearly progress for at least the fifth consecutive year, and the middle school missed for at least the seventh straight year. The district's Green Street Elementary school also missed.

The schools are not Title I schools, meaning they do not receive federal money to help poor and disadvantaged students, so they are not subject to federal sanctions. If they were, the high school would be on the verge of a mandatory restructuring and the middle school already would have undergone one.

Rather than draw sanctions, New Jersey Department of Education spokeswoman Beth Auerswald said the deficiencies make the schools priorities under a state program started in 2006 to help schools that fail to meet federal standards.

Trapani said Phillipsburg schools have already improved.

She said students performed well on recent standardized tests and expected improvement would be reflected the next time the department releases statistics.

Also, she noted, the middle school fell short on only three "indicators," compared to five last year, and the high school fell short on only one.

In July, the district as a whole was removed the federal list of school districts that need improvement.

"We know we've made a big gain," she said.

Warren Hills Regional Middle School, meanwhile, fell short of standards for at least the third consecutive year, and it is on the federal list of schools that need improvement. If it were a Title I school, which it is not, it would be forced to offer an alternate school to some students.

There are, however, signs of improvement. The Warren Hills Regional School District as a whole was also removed in July from the federal list of districts that need improvement.

No Hunterdon County schools were on the needs-improvement list. The list is for schools that miss a certain standard two or more years in a row.

Adequate yearly progress is measured by standardized tests that gauge student achievement in 41 indicators chosen by the federal government.

---

WHAT THEY MISSED
Friday, January 15, 2010

Eight schools in Warren County and five in Hunterdon County failed to meet No Child Left Behind standards during the 2008-09 school year.

WARREN COUNTY

-- Students with disabilities failed to meet language and math standards at the following schools: Hackettstown High, Phillipsburg High, Phillipsburg Middle, North Warren Regional Middle, Warren Hills Regional Middle and Warren Hills Regional High. Students with disabilities failed only to meet language standards at Green Street (Phillipsburg) Elementary and North Warren Regional High schools.

-- Student groups that also failed to meet language and math standards at Phillipsburg Middle School were white, black, Hispanic and economically disadvantaged.

-- Phillipsburg High, Phillipsburg Middle and Warren Hills Regional High schools are on a federal list of schools that need improvement.

HUNTERDON COUNTY

-- Students with disabilities failed to meet language and math standards at the following schools: Clinton Middle, Delaware Valley Regional High and Hunterdon Central High. Students with disabilities failed only to meet language standards at J.P. Case (Flemington-Raritan) Middle and Holland Township Elementary schools.

Source: New Jersey Department of Education