The results are in, as the state released its findings from the 2010–2011 New Jersey Department of Education Report Cards. The Moorestown Township School District students once again performed well in the statewide assessments.
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 school district spent about an average of $16,453 per student in the district, more than $400 the state average.
On average, the district paid its administrators $117,940 for the year, about $2,000 less than the state average. For its teachers, the district’s average salary is $57,530, more than $6,000 less than the state average for 2010–2011.
Moorestown High School students averaged a total score of 1,706 on their SAT’s for 2010–2011. Students averaged scores of 588 in math, 561 in verbal, and 557 in the essay portion of the SAT.
Two schools in the district didn’t reach their adequate yearly progress status for the 2010 No Child Left Behind report. William Allen III Middle School and the Moorestown Upper Elementary School didn’t reach their AYP goals, but will not be penalized. If the schools don’t make their AYP goals again next year they will be designated as being “in need of improvement” and the state will take action in the form of parental notifications and other warnings.
Superintendent John Bach touted the district’s academic standards and high test scores in the report’s district narrative.
“Moorestown Township Schools have received numerous accolades with the high school and the elementary schools receiving the prestigious National Blue Ribbon status. Approximately 95 percent of Moorestown High School students continue their education at the post secondary level. Moorestown High School SAT and AP scores are among the best in the state,” he wrote in the report. “The district’s talented teaching staff provides academic challenge in a supportive environment, which allows children to thrive. One of the distinguishing characteristics of the district is the involvement of its teachers in curriculum development and instructional training.”
The elementary schools fared well in the NJ ASK tests for 2010–2011 year, performing at about the same level as the other schools in the same district factor group.
The Moorestown district is classified as an “I” for its DFG. The groups describe the socio-economic status for school districts. “J” is the highest classification for a DFG.
The Upper Elementary students boosted their advanced proficient scores in the N.J. ASK 5 mathematics test to nearly 56 percent, a 10 percent increase over the advanced proficient scores for 2009–2010.
The elementary student stayed about the same in the advanced proficient category for the N.J. ASK 5 language arts test, scoring 12.4 percent, about a percent less than the 2009–2010 score. However, it was about the same advanced proficient score for language arts as other schools in the DFG.
Most schools in the district hovered around the state classroom size average of 19 students. Mary E. Roberts Elementary School had the lowest classroom size average in the district, with only 16.3 students per classroom in 2010–2011. The high school had the second lowest average, with 17.8 students per classroom.
George C. Baker Elementary School barely eclipsed the state average with 20.5 students per classroom and South Valley Elementary closely followed with an average of 20.8 students.
The Moorestown Upper Elementary School and William Allen III Middle School had the highest classroom averages in the district, with the elementary school averaging 22.7 students and the middle school following close behind with 22.8 students.
