Holmdel On Par With State Standardized Test Scores

Students in Holmdel are on track with standardized testing scores, according to targets set in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.

The ESEA is an alternative to No Child Left Behind standards, and are targets which allow the state to qualify for federal Race to the Top funding.

In comparison to NCLB, new standards allow each district to set individual targets in schools, which can also vary by subject. The targets also identify subgroups, such as special needs or non-english speaking students.

In elementary and middle school, baseline targets were set by previous scores from NJASK and NJPASS standardized test scores. In high school, scores for ninth and tenth grade have no baseline, because those students were not previously tested.

Under new state testing standards, both ninth and tenth grades will participate in standardized testing.

Attached to this article is the full presentation, including specific target numbers and goals reached.

Village School

The Village School met and exceeded target growth under ESEA standards.

In longterm planning, Principal Brian Schillaci identified the need for another Achieve program special education teacher to focus more on literacy programs.

Schillachi also said the school plans to use programs such as Study Island to review and identify the needs of individual students and subgroups.

"[Study Island] has been a tremendous asset for all of our students to have," Schillachi said.

Indian Hill

Indian Hill identified one area which did not meet its target, within the subpopulation of non-english speaking students.

Longterm planning goals again outline the use of Study Island programming to set specific benchmarks for individual students, as well as the use of a test preparation unit with a writing component.

W.R. Satz Middle School

A need for growth within the special education population at Satz was identified through data analysis in the language arts area.

Principal Arthur Howard said the school reached 88.7%, but the baseline for special education was significantly higher.

Howard said the school plans to implement a language arts plus program, similar to its math plus program. The classes would serve as supplemental to the current curriculum, and work to identify the needs of specific students and promote test score growth.

"It has worked for math so I'm pretty confident that it will work for language arts," Howard said.

The school plans to continue using Study Island to benchmark progress in students, and use the program to identify specific deficiencies such as vocabulary or persuasive writing.

Howard also identified a slight dip in test scores as students transfer schools and enter Satz.

However, Howard said this dip is standard across the state and attributed the data to the change of schools and maturity level. Growth continues into eighth grade.

Holmdel High School

Ninth and tenth grade students have not been previously tested by the state, so baseline targets were not provided.

Targets for the high school were based on a single-year snapshot junios in 2011. The school met targets, and plans to target the special needs subgroup as an area of growth.

"We don't teach to the test, we feel the curriculum is rigorous enough that we don't have to do that," said Principal Bill Loughran.

The high school does offer voluntary test prep sessions, to relieve test anxiety and brush up on standard skills.