The results are in, as the state released its findings from the 2010–2011 New Jersey Department of Education Report Cards. Evesham Township School District and Cherokee High School District students once again performed well in the statewide NJ ASK tests. However, several schools in the K-8 district once again didn’t meet their No Child Left Behind requirement for the 2010–2011 school year.
Most students living in Evesham will spend their first nine years in the K-8 district and then graduate to Cherokee High School, part of the Lenape Regional High School District.
The annual New Jersey Report Card study is a state mandated program that districts have been utilizing since 1995. The department presents 35 different fields of information for each school and compares the results to district factor group and state averages.
Several categories are considered within the study, including district finances, student performance indicators, school environment, class sizes, and the students themselves, according to department representatives.
For the 2010–2011 school year, the district spent $16,248 per student in the district, about $200 more than the average of districts with similar budget types. The district actually decreased its cost per student by almost $500 from the 2009–2010 school year, according to the report cards.
The average administrator in the district earned a little more than $106,000 in the school year, about $5,100 less than the state average for administrators. Teachers, however, earned $56,600 on average in the 2010–2011 school year, about $3,000 less than the state average.
Cherokee High School students averaged a total of 1,536 on the SATs, the lowest of all four high schools in the Lenape Regional High School District. Shawnee High School topped the high school average with a 1,627 total; Lenape High School came in second at 1,561, and Seneca High School finished third at 1,541.
Cherokee students averaged a 531 in math, 508 in verbal, and 497 in the essay portion of the SAT.
At the Evesham K-8 School District level, only two schools out of nine reached their Adequate Yearly Progress goal in the No Child Left Behind Report for 2010. Florence V. Evans Elementary and Frances Demasi Elementary were the only two schools to reach their AYP goal.
Marlton Middle School was also declared a “school in need of improvement.” Now in its second year of the process, parents of the district will be notified, it will be included in the public school choice program, and several other actions will take place.
All remaining schools in the district didn’t meet their AYP goals, but are not classified as being in “need of improvement.”
The Evesham Township K-8 District is also not classified as being “in need of improvement.”
In addition, the district pays close attention to the results of the NJ ASK test, said Danielle Magulick, director of curriculum and instruction.
“In Evesham, we analyze results from the NJ ASK test, along with several other district assessments to identify strengths and needs in individuals and cohorts on an on-going basis. In addition to NJASK scores, we look at multiple district measures taken in the fall and spring in order to ensure that our students are meeting and exceeding state standards,” she said. “By analyzing this data throughout the year, adjustments to instruction and instructional programs can be made to allow all children to achieve their personal best.”
The district analyzes the results of the test and then can decide to change or mold its curriculum and programs as needed.
“For example, our Language Arts Curriculum was recently revised and aligned to the Common Core Standards. Through the revision process, data trends and patterns, along with feedback from various stakeholders was utilized in making adjustments to the program,” she said. “We added an additional Word Study component, along with increased emphasis on Guided Reading and Writing. Our work for 2012–2013 will focus on aligning to the Common Core Math Standards and implementing a new math program in grades K-7.”
Class size throughout the district comes in at a lower average than the state average, according to the report cards. Only the middle schools in the K-8 district clock in higher than the 19.1 state average for students per classroom. Marlton Middle School averages 20.6 per classroom and Frances Demasi Middle School averages 21.9.
Richard L. Rice Elementary School had the lowest classroom average in the district, with only 14.1 students in each room. H.L. Beeler Elementary School isn’t far behind with a 15.3 student average per classroom.
Robert B. Jaggard averages only 15.4 students per classroom and Florence V. Evens Elementary averages 17.8 per classroom.
J. Harold Van Zant averages 18.1 per classroom; Frances Demasi Elementary averages 18.5 per classroom; and Marlton Elementary averages 19 students per classroom.
Cherokee High School is averaging more students per classroom than the state average. The classroom average is at 26.5 students per room, which is more than seven students higher that the state average of 19.1 per room.
All four high schools in the LRHSD are above the state classroom average, but Cherokee clocks in at the highest average of students per classroom. Lenape High School isn’t far behind with 26.2 students per classroom, however.
