Concerns Of Middle School Math Performance Discussed By Ridgewood School Board

RIDGEWOOD, NJ — Concerns were raised about middle school math performance in Ridgewood during a presentation of spring 2022 statewide assessment results at Monday's school board meeting.

Specifically two datasets associated with grade-level proficiency were discussed at length: One was a sharp decline in assessment scores for Geometry students, and the other was an increase in percentage of a cohort of students not meeting minimum proficiency levels.

Ridgewood Assistant Superintendent Stacie Poelstra presented results of the New Jersey Student Learning Assessments at Board of Education meeting, and said that a statewide drop in NJSLA test scores, particularly in Math, were reflected at the district level.

But, Poelstra later noted, the NJSLA is one among a variety of data points that the district uses to assess student performance, and Ridgewood students are, in fact, outperforming state averages, even in subject areas that welcome more improvement.

A drop in Geometry student test scores raised a "red flag" among staff, she said, though she attributes that to the district's 2019 change in the typical math course sequence of Algebra 1 in grade 8, and Geometry in grade 9, to Geometry in grade 8, and Algebra 1 in grade 9.

The NJSLA Geometry, she said, is written under the assumption that students complete Algebra 1 before Geometry; therefore, some Algebra 1 skills are integrated into that assessment.

"I think we have some curriculum work to do to handle some of the algebra that is infused (into the assessment)," she said. "But I think the sequence we've put there is serving students in the long term. It is a matter of 'What can we do?' on the geometry side to address the change in sequence."

For reference, this spring, 34.9% of the district's Geometry students, most of whom are eighth graders, met or exceeded grade-level expectations; this represents an approximate 25% drop from 2019. This is also lower than the 2022 state average of 44% of Geometry students who met or exceeded grade-level goals.

School board President HyunJu Kwak also pointed out that in the NJSLA English Language Arts for Grade 8, only 14% of students did not meet expectations, whereas 65% of Geometry students (again, most of whom are eighth graders) did not meet expectations.

"The gap is so wide," Kwak said.

Poelstra said adjustments could be made to address algebraic skills in Geometry; however, there may still be content on the Geometry state exam that do not align with the district's course sequence. She suggested that the district could develop a two-year plan for curriculum development that would include updating the Geometry curriculum and implementing revision in fall 2023.

She also outlined several other strategies and even interventions to "inform data-based instruction," and "provide additional support and practice with targeted Math skills."

Another dataset of interest, identified by school board member Saurabh Dani, was that 38.9% of the grade 6 cohort did not meet expectations on NJSLA Math this year, while only 13.6% of the same class of students, more or less, didn't meet expectations three years ago.

"This is where we should be focusing, because we are failing those students as a district," Dani said.

"I wouldn't say we are failing them," Poelstra said in response. "I think we have seen a decline in scores that could be a result of the pandemic. But I think we can find ways to remedy the situation by digging into where our holes are and into what they have not learned yet."

Still, the district's cohort is faring better in Math than the state, across which 68.7% of sixth graders are not meeting the standards.

"People are expecting that, if they are sending their kids to Ridgewood Public Schools, for (the district) to take care of them, so we have to take care of them," Dani said. "There is a pattern, and we cannot ignore the pattern."