How Cinnaminson Schools Rated In State's New Reports

CINNAMINSON, NJ — State education officials released new data showing how all of New Jersey's public schools, including Cinnaminson's, performed last school year.

In the latest School Performance Reports, the New Jersey Department of Education scored districts and schools on a scale of 0 to 100 based on factors such as standardized test scores, student academic growth and graduation rates, among other metrics.

The scores are designed to provide the public identify needs at their local schools. But the state education commissioner says they're not a be-all, end-all.

"These reports are a valuable tool for family and community engagement," Commissioner Kevin Dehmer said in a statement. "They serve as a starting point, and a resource, for dialogue between the community and local school leaders about the school district's accomplishments, priorities and areas of need."

How Are Schools Compared To One Another?

Along with the performance reports are school-by-school summative scores and ratings, which compare districts and also provide a numerical score that measures how well each school is doing in academic achievement and progress.

Schools are broken down into categories by configuration, or what grade levels they serve, and compared to others in that category. These include elementary/middle schools, high schools, and mixed-configuration schools that combine many grades into one building.

• Related: New NJ School Performance Reports Are Out: See How Your District Did

Elementary schools that only teach children in second grade or lower are not included, as there is no state testing at this level.

Based on the configuration, the NJ Department of Education looks at the schools' four-year graduation rate, five-year graduation rate, English Language Arts (ELA) proficiency, math proficiency, ELA growth, math growth, and progress towards English language proficiency (ELP). A school needs to have data on three of these elements to have its score reviewed in the standard manner.

The rate of chronic absenteeism is also included in the score. Student performance is measured overall, but also focuses on how students are doing in underserved subgroups classified by race, nationality, economic situation and special education.

What Do The Scores And Ratings Mean?

"Summative scores" provide a number from 1-99 and are based on factors listed above such as graduation rates and progress in English and math. Higher scores are better, and certain schools with lower scores are put into categories for support and improvement.

Schools are compared to one another based on grade level, as well, in the "summative ratings." For example, schools that serve high school students only are compared with one another. These are percentile ratings from 1-100, so a school with a rating closer to 100 is among the best of its peers.It is possible for a school to have a higher summative rating than summative score, and vice-versa.

District Data

Here's an overview of how each school in the Cinnaminson district fared last year:

Here's some additional district data from the 2023-24 school year:

• total students: 2,929
• multilingual learners: 4.7 percent
• students with disabilities: 17.4 percent
• average teaching experience: 13.1 years
• economically disadvantaged students: 17 percent
• student-to-teacher ratio: 12 to 1

How students performed on assessments:

• English Language Arts: 59.9 percent proficient (met statewide expectations)
• Math: 53.3 percent proficient (met statewide expectations)

How does Cinnaminson's student growth compare to other students?

• English Language Arts: student growth percentile of 49 (met statewide expectations)
• Math: student growth percentile of 52 (met statewide expectations)

Are students at risk?

In Cinnaminson, 10.1 percent of students were "chronically absent," meaning they missed at least 10 percent of school days. The state rate was 14.9 percent of students.

Are students graduating?

• four-year graduation rate: 94.2 percent (met statewide expectations)
• five-year graduation rate: 94.2 percent (met statewide expectations)

Are students college- or career-ready?

• Enrollment in advanced-placement (AP) or international baccalaureate (IB) courses: 48 percent for the district, 35.9 percent for the state
• Dual enrollment: 28 percent in the district, 26.9 percent for the state
• Seal of biliteracy: 22.2 percent for the district, 9.6 percent for the state
• Industry-valued credentials: 0 percent for the district, 2.2 percent for the state

For more information, view the state's report on the district and its schools.

With reporting from Michelle Rotuno-Johnson/Patch staff.