Shamong Township Schools recently received results of the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers test, and they were presented at the Board of Education meeting last week. The scores saw mostly improvements or scores that stayed the same, however, there were some areas in need of improvement.
“We’re doing a lot with data, not only with PARCC … we’re trying to look at a lot of different data to find out how we can best help these kids, how can we make our curriculum better and what can we see with this data,” Curriculum Coordinator Laura Hoffman said.
The PARCC assessment uses five performance levels that delineate the knowledge, skills and practices students are able to demonstrate in math and English language arts. The levels are 1: did not meet expectations, 2: partially met expectations, 3: approaching expectations, 4: met expectations, and 5: exceeded expectations. District scores were broken down by grade level and number of students who received advanced, proficient or not passing scores. Levels 1 through 3 are not passing, level 4 is proficient and level 5 is advanced.
The schools, rather than comparing grade to grade, looked at a group of students from one year to the next to see if there was improvement. Rather than comparing the current fourth grade to last year’s fourth grade, the schools are looking at the scores from the current fourth grade compared to itself from third grade the year before.
“We want to see how that group did the next year. Are they showing growth?” Hoffman said.
For math, significant improvements were seen in the current third grade, sixth grade and eighth grade and algebra students. Little or no improvement was seen in the current fourth- and seventh-grade students. Regression was seen in the current fifth-grade students.
For English Language Arts, significant improvements were seen in the current third, fourth, seventh and eighth grades. Little or no improvement was seen in the current sixth grade. Regression was seen in the current fifth grade.
“I think we are moving forward quite nicely,” Hoffman said. “The (regressions) are not reflective on the teachers, but something we need to look into … is there a missing curriculum, more time, more materials? What do we need to do?”
Shamong student math scores are at a 53 percent passing score compared to the statewide average of 25 percent. For algebra, percentages were not available, however Shamong students are at 792 compared to the state at 741 and, across PARCC states, 734. In ELA, Shamong students’ scores are at 78 percent passing, with the state at 55 percent and across PARCC states 44 percent.
“(Our students) are leaving this district in a very good state … with very strong skillsets. And we want to try to make it so it flows evenly throughout,” Hoffman said.
Indian Mills Memorial School Principal Tim Carroll reminded parents that as of the current eighth-grade class, the class 2021, for graduation requirements, they will have to sit for the PARCC and pass the PARCC.
“Up until last year, there was about 19 ways for students to meet their graduation requirement. Those ways are now gone, starting with our current eighth graders. If they don’t pass the PARCC three years in a row, then there will be alternatives a high school can offer, but they only will be offered if you sit for the PARCC in ninth, 10th and 11th grade and don’t pass it,” Carroll said.
He is sending that information to parents now and in February to remind parents this is a necessity for high school, hoping to discourage opt outs. Carroll said the only way to prepare students for the tests in high school is if they practice taking the tests now.
