With help from teachers, parents, administration and the community, the students of Mt. Laurel scored well on the annual report cards recently released by the Department of Education.
The report cards, based upon the 2010–2011 school year, show proficiency in student testing, information concerning classroom environments, the finances of the district and details on the staff and students.
The graduation rate was 95.88 percent at Lenape High School, just under the Lenape Regional High School District average of 96.89 percent — the highest rate in Burlington County according to assistant superintendent Carol L. Birnbohm.
Students who took the SAT performed better than the state average in all three categories.
In math, the average score was 547 compared to the state score of 517. The verbal section had students scoring an average of 509, while the state averaged in at 493. The essay portion garnered an average of 505 with the state scoring 496.
The average Lenape District total score was 1566.
Birnbohm emphasized the importance of completing the PSAT assessment prior to taking the SAT.
There is a huge correlation between student scores and the completion of the PSAT, she said.
The HSPA scores also show improvement at the district level.
“Students did very well on the HSPA,” said Birnbohm. “We’ve improved in both the math and the language arts literacy assessment.”
96.9 percent of the total district population was either proficient or advanced in the field of language arts while 88.3 percent scored similarly in math.
At Lenape High School, 96 percent were either proficient or advanced in language arts and 84.8 percent in math.
Average class sizes were 26.2 per class, which was higher than the state average of 19.
However, there were 11.4 students per faculty member, a number similar to the state average of 11.2.
Lenape administrative personnel had a median salary of $125,274, down from the 2009–2010 school year’s $129,812, but higher than the state median of $121,597.
Teachers’ salaries median rate was $64,295 while the state median was $68,435.
It cost $19,265 to educate each student in the district.
“We have very involved parents. We have great sending districts that feed to us,” Birnbohm said. “We have students and teachers that come prepared and willing to work.”
That sentiment begins at the secondary level in Mt. Laurel where there are eight schools in the K-8 district.
“Mt. Laurel’s staff is second to none, and is supported by a Board of Education that truly cares about each child,” said superintendent of schools Antoinette Rath. “Our students are fortunate to be living in a community with tremendous support for public schools, and in homes where parents make education a priority.”
Math is a strong suit for students in the township, she said.
At Hartford School, 93.1 percent of students were proficient or advanced proficient in math as scored on the fifth-grade level of the NJASK test.
“Our math curriculum, in place since 2000, has placed us very favorably when compared to state and district factor group averages,” she said.
Students excelled in science at T.E. Harrington Middle School.
On the NJASK8 test, 91.9 percent of students tested favorably.
Language arts testing was similar, with only 8.2 percent showing a need for improvement.
So how do students prepare for these tests?
“When curriculum is properly aligned, there is little a district can do to prepare for the annual state tests,” said Rath. “Our curriculum is aligned with state standards, and our teachers perform benchmark assessments to assure that students understand the content.”
In addition, the district performs an in-house assessment known as Measures of Academic Performance (MAP) test three times each year to check for growth.
Class sizes are also maintained to ensure students’ success.
The average size of a class in the state is 19 students. At Countryside School, there is an average of 16.7 students in each class. At Larchmont School it’s 16.3. Springville School shows the lowest average at 16.1 students per classroom.
In the K-8 district, the median faculty salary was $61,850, which is $2,275 more than the state median. Administrators were paid $7,895 less than the state median, at the rate of $103,238.
It cost $15,634 to educate each student.
There are some discrepancies in the report cards that parents should be aware of, explained Rath.
“It is helpful and convenient for the public to have all of this data in one location, but the comparisons are not always clear. For instance, there were major changes in the state benchmarks in both math and language literacy this year that are not indicated in the report card comparisons,” she said. “As a general guide, parents should always look at the State School Report Card, but they should also review issues as important as test scores on a district level. Our annual testing presentation is posted on our district website under November’s Board of Education meeting.”
Next school year, the Department of Education will begin to develop and publish school performance reports to replace the report card, according to a release by the state.
“Through these reports, the Department will set specific school and subgroup performance targets for both language arts and math, and will report annual progress towards meeting those goals,” reads the release. “In addition, the reports will include a number of new data points including progress towards closing achievement gaps, comparison to ‘peer schools’ with similar demographics, growth as measured through Student Growth Percentiles on state tests over time, and additional college and career readiness data points.”
The hope is for the state to provide better information through the new reports.
“While these Report Cards provide some helpful information to parents, the general public, and school administrators about school performance, the Department has long acknowledged that we can do a much better job of providing actionable information for the purposes of school improvement. We are moving to a new School Performance Report next year that will provide unprecedented data on how our schools are doing,” said acting commissioner Chris Cerf.
Exciting changes are coming soon to Mt. Laurel Schools, explained Rath.
“Next year, we will see new curriculum begin in the areas of social studies and world language, as well as updates in a number of other areas to conform with new Common Core Standards,” she said. “At the middle school, we will be adding a STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math) course and we will add a STEM Course at Hartford in sixth-grade using the Legos Mindstorm program.”
