Standardized tests can be stressful for students, especially for those who are unfamiliar with the format. For many, it pays off well when results are received and districts are overwhelmed with their students’ scores.
Director of Educational Programming and Planning Rich Lacovara Jr. presented the Medford Township School District with its spring 2019 New Jersey Student Learning Assessment results during the Oct. 14 board of education meeting.
NJSLA scores are based on levels one to five, with five being the highest. Level one is not meeting expectations, two is partially meeting expectations, three is approaching expectations, four is meeting expectations and five is exceeding expectations.
Compared to the state, Lacovara said Medford had a higher percentage of students score in levels four and five than the state average, and the district had fewer students score in the lower three levels than the state average, which are highly favorable results for the district.
“In terms of levels four and five, you want to be higher than the state’s, like in third grade where 58 percent of the students are there, whereas the state has 42.8 percent [in English language arts].”
In the high school algebra section, which was also taken by some younger Medford students excelling in math, the district had 92.4 percent of its students scored in levels four and five, while the state had 42.8 percent score in those levels.
Much of the meeting discussion centered on results for the district’s special education population. For the these students, which Lacovara said is the district’s largest subgroup, the range of students scoring at level four or five in English in grades three through eight was between approximately 37 to 61 percent. The district was happy with these results, especially considering there are few accommodations given to special education students during testing.
“It is unfortunate that our special education students are entitled to their accommodations throughout the school day, and when they take the test, there’s very little that’s modified,” Lacovara said. “When you look at these percentages, it’s impressive.”
For the special education students in the middle school, Jennifer Petagno, supervisor of instruction, said expectations and the content of what they’re learning makes a significant jump when they get to sixth grade, which is where approximately 15 to 26 percent of special education students were proficient in math, testing in levels four and five.
Lacovara and Petagno added with mathematics, the students are challenged to not only solve equations on the assessment, but also need to be able to decipher unfamiliar language.
He further went on to credit special education teachers for teaching the state’s learning standards well, and for helping students reduce test anxiety and stress throughout the week-long testing period.
No results were provided for the science portion of the test due to the district not yet having numbers back from the state.
For students who tested in the Dynamic Learning Map, which amounts to 1 percent of the eligible student population, 77 percent of those students tested “at target” or “advanced” in language arts, and 79 percent tested at that level in math. The DLM is for students who “need a higher level of modification or accessibilities.”
Seventeen students in the district’s English as a Second Language program took the Assessing Comprehension and Communication in English State-to-State for English Language Learners test; four students have since exited the program due to their proficient test results.
“I’d go out on a limb and say that I value the observational feedback from a teacher who spends 180 days with a student more than what a child did on a two-day NJSLA test,” Lacovara said.
To view the state’s overall results on the NJSLA, visit State.NJ.US/Education, and select “N.J. Statewide Assessment Reports” under the “data” tab. District specific results are not yet available.
In other news:
- Christopher Curto was formally welcomed to the district as the new assistant principal at Memorial School. Curto has been in education for 16 years; he was a seventh- and eighth-grade social studies teacher for most of those years. He’s expected to start in December.
- The Medford Home and School Association was honored for donating $64,250 to the district for educational purposes. The association has a number of events coming up in the near and distant future, all of which can be found by visiting MedfordHSA.com.
- The district’s newest food services company, Nutri-Serve, informed the board and teachers present in the audience that gift cards can be purchased by students for a gift to their teacher and vice versa.
- A safety committee has been formally made in the district. The committee focuses on employee safety and health. Business Administrator Marie Goodwin said there’s an incentive program set up for district employees to send in their recommendations on what needs to be done, and a winner will receive a $25 Wawa gift card. The “winning” recommendation is chosen at each committee meeting.
- Medford’s Harassment, Intimidation and Bullying report numbers are back: of 14 investigations conducted in the 2018-2019 school year, six were confirmed.
The next board of education meeting is scheduled for Nov. 18, beginning at 7:30 p.m. at the central offices, 137 Hartford Road.
