Post by Marc LeVine on Feb 12, 2007 16:21:23 GMT -5
Anyone know how FB ranked? Some lower income towns did as well or better than their wealthier counterparts.
Marc
Test scores reflect wealth, or lack of it
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 02/8/07
BY JASON METHOD
STAFF WRITER
Success can be measured in different ways, at least in the state's annual public school report card released Wednesday.
In Holmdel, an academic powerhouse in a town where fewer than 1 percent of the students come from low-income families, high school juniors and seniors taking the SAT scored an average of 1,764 out of 2,400 points.
It was the fourth-best score among traditional public high schools in the state.
But in Keansburg, where more than half of the district's students come from low-income families, the average SAT score was 1,419, which is also good news even though it was below the state average of 1,503.
Based on long-standing studies that link communities' average income to test scores, Keansburg bucked the trend and scored about 200 points higher than other schools with similar socioeconomic standing, an Asbury Park Press analysis showed.
It wasn't a fluke, Keansburg officials say. The school's average SAT results have been rising for the past three years, mostly due to a four-day-a-week SAT prep course and a summer reading program that is reinforced by online tests.
Balkees Parveen, 17, a Keansburg senior and daughter of Pakistani immigrants, increased her 2005 SAT score by 300 points in 2006 after attending the SAT classes. She said she was motivated by watching her parents.
She said her mother, a housewife, did not attend much school in Pakistan and her father, who attended a Pakistani college, is a limo driver in New York.
"They work so hard," said Parveen, who wants to be a high school math teacher and has been accepted at both Monmouth University in West Long Branch and Georgian Court University in Lakewood. "I need a good career. I want to enjoy myself," she said.
Labyrinth of data
The state Department of Education's report cards for 614 school districts come with a multitude of statistics on standardized test results, dropout rates, per-pupil spending, staff salaries and class sizes.
In addition to Keansburg, the Press' analysis of school report card data identified strong results among schools with large percentages of students from low-income families:
In Red Bank schools, nearly three-quarters of the pupils came from low-income households. But pupils in grades 3 through 6 scored at or near state averages. The district was the third-highest in the state among schools where more than half the pupils came from low-income families.
Nearly 1 in 3 pupils in Tuckerton are from low-income families. But among districts of similar economic characteristics, they also scored near the top in the grades 4 through 6 tests.
In Bradley Beach, almost half of the elementary school pupils come from low-income families. But those in grades 4 through 6 last year scored even with or better than state averages.
One educational axiom school report card statistics reinforce year after year is that despite all the attention focused onteacher salaries, curriculum, per-pupil spending and the like, the most reliable predictor of success is the affluence of the community.
Experts say children of educated professionals, largely from two-parent families, benefit from the wealth and home environment.
"Economically successful parents are more likely to read to their children and give them expectations of success, of going to college," said Philip E. Mackey, an independent educational researcher who authors a biennial report on state schools' performance. "Those children live in the better communities with better schools. The students are more likely to be in good health, to eat well."
Some districts struggle
Not all of the results were rosy for local schools with large percentages of students from low-income families.
For example, Asbury Park schools, which have struggled in recent years, again ranked near the bottom of the state test results. Some 80 percent of 8th graders were partially proficient on the math and language portions of the state test.
Most of the Asbury Park high school juniors were partially proficient the state's high school proficiency exam.
At Neptune Middle School, nearly half the pupils were partially proficient on the math portion of the state's eighth-grade test and one-third were partially proficient on the language portion of the test.
Those results were still low even when the percentages of students from low-income households — 54 percent for Neptune Middle School and roughly 80 percent for Asbury Park's middle and high schools — were factored into the analysis. The analysis used general education pupils — those who do not have a disability or limited English proficiency.
State aid covers two-thirds or more of the budget in Asbury Park, Neptune, Long Branch and Keansburg under a program ordered in the 1990s by the state Supreme Court. The program targets the 31 poorest school districts in the state.
In Holmdel, the average annual household income reported by the 2000 Census was $112,879. More than half the adults in town have a bachelor's degree or higher. All of Holmdel High School's juniors and seniors took the voluntary SAT and, collectively, ranked near the top of the state.
One in three Holmdel students took advanced placement classes and more than half of them scored advanced in the state's High School Proficiency Assessment.
In Keansburg, where household income averaged $36,383 in 2000 and less than 10 percent of the adults have a college degree, the results were much more modest.
Keansburg's results on state elementary, middle and high school standardized tests fell within expected norms. But nonetheless, SAT test scores are up, and so is the percentage of students planning to attend college. For example, the school's average math score rose from 459 in 2004 to 497 last year.
Math teacher Carrie Mazak said she thinks the voluntary after-school SAT-prep sessions have been a big help.
"It's pretty straightforward; it's hitting them hard and heavy with all the questions they'll see on the test," Mazak said. "It's about breaking the questions down — and teaching them to think through the problems."
Mazak said more Keansburg students have come to believe they will need to attend college.
"They see their parents, family, and friends don't have as many choices if they don't have a college education," Mazak said.
Marc
Test scores reflect wealth, or lack of it
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 02/8/07
BY JASON METHOD
STAFF WRITER
Success can be measured in different ways, at least in the state's annual public school report card released Wednesday.
In Holmdel, an academic powerhouse in a town where fewer than 1 percent of the students come from low-income families, high school juniors and seniors taking the SAT scored an average of 1,764 out of 2,400 points.
It was the fourth-best score among traditional public high schools in the state.
But in Keansburg, where more than half of the district's students come from low-income families, the average SAT score was 1,419, which is also good news even though it was below the state average of 1,503.
Based on long-standing studies that link communities' average income to test scores, Keansburg bucked the trend and scored about 200 points higher than other schools with similar socioeconomic standing, an Asbury Park Press analysis showed.
It wasn't a fluke, Keansburg officials say. The school's average SAT results have been rising for the past three years, mostly due to a four-day-a-week SAT prep course and a summer reading program that is reinforced by online tests.
Balkees Parveen, 17, a Keansburg senior and daughter of Pakistani immigrants, increased her 2005 SAT score by 300 points in 2006 after attending the SAT classes. She said she was motivated by watching her parents.
She said her mother, a housewife, did not attend much school in Pakistan and her father, who attended a Pakistani college, is a limo driver in New York.
"They work so hard," said Parveen, who wants to be a high school math teacher and has been accepted at both Monmouth University in West Long Branch and Georgian Court University in Lakewood. "I need a good career. I want to enjoy myself," she said.
Labyrinth of data
The state Department of Education's report cards for 614 school districts come with a multitude of statistics on standardized test results, dropout rates, per-pupil spending, staff salaries and class sizes.
In addition to Keansburg, the Press' analysis of school report card data identified strong results among schools with large percentages of students from low-income families:
In Red Bank schools, nearly three-quarters of the pupils came from low-income households. But pupils in grades 3 through 6 scored at or near state averages. The district was the third-highest in the state among schools where more than half the pupils came from low-income families.
Nearly 1 in 3 pupils in Tuckerton are from low-income families. But among districts of similar economic characteristics, they also scored near the top in the grades 4 through 6 tests.
In Bradley Beach, almost half of the elementary school pupils come from low-income families. But those in grades 4 through 6 last year scored even with or better than state averages.
One educational axiom school report card statistics reinforce year after year is that despite all the attention focused onteacher salaries, curriculum, per-pupil spending and the like, the most reliable predictor of success is the affluence of the community.
Experts say children of educated professionals, largely from two-parent families, benefit from the wealth and home environment.
"Economically successful parents are more likely to read to their children and give them expectations of success, of going to college," said Philip E. Mackey, an independent educational researcher who authors a biennial report on state schools' performance. "Those children live in the better communities with better schools. The students are more likely to be in good health, to eat well."
Some districts struggle
Not all of the results were rosy for local schools with large percentages of students from low-income families.
For example, Asbury Park schools, which have struggled in recent years, again ranked near the bottom of the state test results. Some 80 percent of 8th graders were partially proficient on the math and language portions of the state test.
Most of the Asbury Park high school juniors were partially proficient the state's high school proficiency exam.
At Neptune Middle School, nearly half the pupils were partially proficient on the math portion of the state's eighth-grade test and one-third were partially proficient on the language portion of the test.
Those results were still low even when the percentages of students from low-income households — 54 percent for Neptune Middle School and roughly 80 percent for Asbury Park's middle and high schools — were factored into the analysis. The analysis used general education pupils — those who do not have a disability or limited English proficiency.
State aid covers two-thirds or more of the budget in Asbury Park, Neptune, Long Branch and Keansburg under a program ordered in the 1990s by the state Supreme Court. The program targets the 31 poorest school districts in the state.
In Holmdel, the average annual household income reported by the 2000 Census was $112,879. More than half the adults in town have a bachelor's degree or higher. All of Holmdel High School's juniors and seniors took the voluntary SAT and, collectively, ranked near the top of the state.
One in three Holmdel students took advanced placement classes and more than half of them scored advanced in the state's High School Proficiency Assessment.
In Keansburg, where household income averaged $36,383 in 2000 and less than 10 percent of the adults have a college degree, the results were much more modest.
Keansburg's results on state elementary, middle and high school standardized tests fell within expected norms. But nonetheless, SAT test scores are up, and so is the percentage of students planning to attend college. For example, the school's average math score rose from 459 in 2004 to 497 last year.
Math teacher Carrie Mazak said she thinks the voluntary after-school SAT-prep sessions have been a big help.
"It's pretty straightforward; it's hitting them hard and heavy with all the questions they'll see on the test," Mazak said. "It's about breaking the questions down — and teaching them to think through the problems."
Mazak said more Keansburg students have come to believe they will need to attend college.
"They see their parents, family, and friends don't have as many choices if they don't have a college education," Mazak said.