It shouldn't make a difference. The school systems are going for mediocrity. We
wouldn't want anyone think that they failed. In Tinton Falls the middle
school won't give an "F". Oh no! We wouldn't want anyone to think they failed
so instead they give them an "E". WTF is that about?
When you have any kind of competition you can't give everyone an award! There
are winners and there are losers in life and that is the way it is. That is
except for Socialism and that is where we are headed so everyone will be the
same. Don't bother trying because it doesn't mean anything. Who cares if
countries like China and India kick our asses with technology and
innovation. America is slip sliding away!
--- On Wed, 10/29/08, Jack Pitzer <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
From: Jack Pitzer <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [AsburyPark] Test scores fall in Asbury
To: AsburyPark@yahoogroups.com
Date: Wednesday, October 29, 2008, 10:08 AM
Test scores fall in Asbury
BY NANCY SHIELDS COASTAL MONMOUTH BUREAU OCTOBER 29, 2008
ASBURY PARK Last spring's test results for city students spiraled downward in
some
grades and subjects, prompting new concerns and steps to help students both
learn and
perform well on the standardized tests.
As in other school districts, the number of students deemed proficient in
certain areas
went down after the state Department of Education raised the achievement
standards in
July.
On the eighth-grade math test, for example, students had to answer at least
half the
questions correctly to be considered proficient and the new test was more
stringent than a
previous test, said William Shannon, the district's director of pupil personnel
services, on
Tuesday.
It was the report last week by Cynthia O'Connell, supervisor of guidance, that
the eighth-
grade math test took a hit from 22.3 percent proficient to 14.6 percent
proficient, that
caused some board members to express anger.
"This is an absolute outrage," board member Danny McKee said at the board
meeting. "You
said numbers went down because of changed testing. . . . We're in an
educational war
here."
The eighth-grade language arts, for example, stayed fairly much the same after
jumping
up two years ago. In 2006, 22.3 percent of students were proficient. In 2007,
the number
was 28.5, and in 2008, 29.5 percent.
In the 11th-grade language arts test last spring, the percentage of students
deemed
proficient fell from 45.6 percent to 25.2 percent. Math proficiency dropped
from 30
percent to 14 percent.
Shannon said that testing in the spring of 2008 included larger numbers of
students with
limited English proficiency than in 2007. For example, 23 of 119 students had
limited
English proficiency in 2008 compared with 10 of 103 students in 2007, and that
is
believed to have contributed to the lower scores.
District officials are working on intervention measures to improve scores. In
the high
school, for example, all students switched to smaller learning communities or
academies
this year. There's a new math curriculum and a proposal for after-school
instruction.
Reading specialists have been hired for all the schools, although the high
school position
is not yet filled, said Donna Muzzicato, the district director of curriculum,
on Tuesday.
Students who fall short of credits needed for graduation after four years are
being
encouraged to take another half-year to finish up with a degree so that they
don't "just
disappear," Shannon said.
The scores came as the school board has moved slowly to get a new permanent
superintendent in place for next fall. Suspended Superintendent Antonio Lewis'
contract
ends in June.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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