At last night’s Board of Education work session, the Mt. Laurel Public Schools’ NJASK test score results from 2013 were revealed to the public. The presentation showed the district’s scores generally were well above the state average and were about average for their District Factor Group, which compares Mt. Laurel against similar school districts.
“We have significantly more diversity than the other schools in our group, so we’re happy that we’ve remained very competitive,” Superintendent Antoinette Rath said.
The scores did reveal a dip among special education students as well as slightly lower than average test scores in language arts across some grades.
As far as special education students are concerned, Rath explained that the test scores aren’t the only focus with them. She explained that each student learns at their own pace.
“While I understand there’s a dip in the test scores, sometimes that’s not the be all, end all,” she said.
Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum Sharon Vitella spoke about the district’s new Journey’s reading program, which the district hopes will boost reading skills as well as the language arts scores in the district.
The new curriculum has a more structured feel that, according to Vitella, will benefit the student’s skills more than the old program.
“This is providing a more consistent and common sequence of skill instruction and provided a lot more materials in the classroom for the teachers,” Vitella said.
The full NJASK test scores presentation for 2013 can be found on the Mt Laurel Public Schools’ website.
