The Independent - July 28th 2004

School district working to improve math scores
BY MICHELLE ROSENBERG
Staff Writer

MATAWAN - Student math scores on state standardized tests were lower this year while language arts scores went up.

The New Jersey Assessment Test results were presented at the July 19 Board of Education meeting by Caroline Pond, district director of testing and special programs.

The results include the Grade Eight Proficiency Assessment (GEPA), the New Jersey Assessment of Skills and Knowledge (NJ ASK 4), and the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA).

Only 67.4 percent of the general education student's passed the GEPA’s math section.

"We are upset and plan to do something about it," Pond said.

The percentage of passing students is down 12.6% from last year, when 80 percent passed. This is the lowest the scores have been in six years.

Despite the low test scores, the district passed with 64 percent, of which 43.5 percent of the students were proficient and 20.5 percent were advanced proficient. The numbers represent all students, special education and limited English students included.

Why are the math results in grade eight so low, board member Lawrence O'Connell asked.

"There were two groups of students that each had numerous teachers. Continuity was broken in many cases," Assistant Superintendent of Schools Robert Rogers said.

The GEPA language arts scores were much better than the math with 87.3 percent of the general education students passing. This is still the lowest passing percentage in six years. Last year, 93 percent passed. Since 2000, the percentage has been slightly increasing, until the 5.7 percent drop this year.

The percentage of total students passing is 81.6 percent, with 71.3 percent passing as proficient and 8.5 percent passing as advanced proficient.

GEPA is the only state standardized exam that tests students in the area of science. In the science section, 82.5 percent of general education students passed, the lowest number in five years.

"Why is there is a drop in test scores in eighth grade. What is the rationale," O'Connell said.

"It seems from the teachers and the students' comments and reaction that the test if much harder. The test is difficult and more challenging. The teachers can't see the questions, so they don't know what is on it," Pond said.

Pond also discussed the results of the NJ ASK 4, formerly the fourth-grade ESPA.

The number of general education students to pass the assessment was 82.4 percent this year, up 7.2 percent from last year.

"We don't think these are terrible [numbers], but we'd like to see it improve," Pond said.

Three of the four elementary schools in the district saw an increase from last year. Lloyd Road School is the only school that dropped, going from 88.8 percent last year, to 80.4 percent this year. Cliffwood Avenue School had the lowest percentage, with only 74.1 percent passing.

District students did well on the NJ ASK 4 language arts section with 96.6 percent of general education students passing.

"We're very pleased with these results. We think that's very good," Pond said. All four schools in the district had percentages in the upper 90s, except Lloyd Road, which saw 100 percent of general education students passing this portion of the test.

The percentage of the total number of students districtwide who passed is 91 percent. Cliffwood Beach had the lowest percentage with 85.9 percent passing.

Pond also discussed the HSPA results.

In the math section, only 79.2 percent of general education students passed.

"We'd like to see this improve," Pond said. The district was at 82.9 percent of general education passing in 2002, and dropped to 77.5 percent last year.

The district did better than the state by .3 percent. However, it did not meet the standards of it's district factor group. The district factor group has 84.6 percent passing, which is 5.4 percent higher than the district scores.

The language arts portion of the HSPA had high results. The 95.4 percent of general education students passing is up from last year's 95.1 percent.

Pond said the district is working on ways to bring up low test scores, and hopes to improve them in the future.

Mediator appointed in Matawan school dispute

Published in the Asbury Park Press 7/27/04

By RODNEY POINT-DU-JOUR
KEYPORT BUREAU

MATAWAN -- Although a mediator has been appointed to help break the impasse in contract talks between the Matawan-Aberdeen Regional Board of Education and Matawan Regional Teachers Association, some doubt has been cast on the likelihood of a smooth start of school in September.

The state Public Employee Relations Commission has appointed Thomas Hartigan as the mediator, said Laura Venter, the school district business administrator.

Venter said both sides have a mediation session scheduled for Sept. 9, the day school is to reopen.

Venter said she remains optimistic but is unsure if the talks will be completed by the beginning of the new school year.

"He (Hartigan) is an experienced mediator, and we expect the negotiations to go swiftly and for us to reach an amicable agreement," Venter said.

Officials on both sides have said they hope an agreement is reached by September to ensure classes resume without a hitch.

In 2001, union representatives and district officials agreed to give the union members a three-year contract that came with a 12 percent pay increase staggered over three years. The union members were also given an increase in co-payments for medical insurance, $2,000 in dental coverage and $150 in optical coverage. That contract expired on June 30.

In June, after nearly eight months of negotiations, the regional school board and the teachers union reached an impasse. Despite both sides calling the sessions peaceful, union and board negotiators decided they needed a mediator to help them reach an agreement.

Carl Kosmyna, the president of the teachers association, said the union members want to maintain their benefits and are looking to raise their wages comparable to what teachers are making in other districts throughout the county.

"We're hopeful the mediator will come in, help us with the negotiations and get us a settlement," Kosmyna said. "What we're looking for isn't outrageous. We just want what everyone else is getting."

Among the seven K-12 districts in Monmouth County, teachers in Matawan-Aberdeen had the second highest median salary, $58,400 in 2003-04 school year, according to the state Department of Education's Comparative Spending Guide.

Ocean Township teachers had the highest median salary among the seven with $65,405 for the same school year, the guide indicated. The other five districts are Holmdel, Long Branch, Middletown, Neptune and Wall.

Statewide, the median salary for a teacher at K-12 district is just under $50,000, according to the guide.

The Matawan Regional Teachers Association has approximately 400 members, including teachers, custodians and bus drivers.

This story includes information from previous Asbury Park Press articles.

Notice of Special Meeting - July 27, 2004

MATAWAN-ABERDEEN REGIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICT

PUBLIC NOTICE

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Matawan-Aberdeen Regional School District Board of Education has scheduled a SPECIAL ACTION MEETING and EXECUTIVE SESSION on:

Tuesday, July 27, 2004

7:30 PM

at

Board of Education

One Crest Way

Aberdeen, New Jersey

Agenda

Personnel

Facilities

Transportation

Laura Venter, CPA

Business Administrator/Board Secretary

Dated: July 20, 2004

Distribution:

Board Members	Building Administrators	MRAA President
Student Representative	Bulletin Boards	MRTA President
Board Attorney	Municipal Clerks	UNITE President
Central Office Administrators	Newspapers	TV Studio
Central Office Staff	Public Library	PTO’s

District considers expanding school's pilot looping plan

Published in the Asbury Park Press 7/19/04

By RODNEY POINT-DU-JOUR
KEYPORT BUREAU

MATAWAN -- Administrators in the Matawan-Aberdeen Regional School district are considering whether to expand a pilot program at Strathmore Elementary School to the other three elementary schools, to help students ease the transition as students advance from grade to grade.

The plan, called looping, would keep students in a class with their teacher for two consecutive school years. For instance, after completing first grade, a student would advance to second grade with the same teacher and classmates. The looping program for first- and second-graders was implemented four years ago at Strathmore.

The intent of the looping program is to maintain the students' social surroundings and enable the teacher to focus on the curriculum, rather than worry about getting the students acclimated to the class's daily routine, said Bruce Quinn, the superintendent of the Matawan-Aberdeen Regional School District.

Parents hope the looping program is orchestrated fairly throughout the district's four elementary schools, said Kathy Camarote, the spokeswoman for Concerned Parents of Matawan and Aberdeen. Camarote would like to see looping implemented before the 2005-06 school year, when the district is planning to have the program in place.

In September, the district is beginning the first phase of the reorganization of the four elementary schools.

The plan, approved by the Board of Education in March, will convert the Lloyd Road Elementary School into a fourth- and fifth-grade school with Ravine Drive, Strathmore and Cliffwood Avenue elementary schools, each having kindergarten through third grade.

Officials said the measure will bring racial balance to the four schools, while expanding the gifted-and-talented program to each elementary school. Music, special education and English as a Second Language will also be offered at each of the four schools.

Third- to fourth-grade looping has been primarily conducted at Strathmore, where the program has been implemented for the past four years, said Robert J. Rodgers, superintendent of curriculum and instruction.

In 2005-06, educators are also considering loops for kindergartners and first-graders at Cliffwood Avenue, Strathmore and Ravine Drive schools; for second- and third-graders at Cliffwood Avenue, Strathmore and Ravine Drive; and for fourth- and fifth-graders at Lloyd Road, Rodgers said.

"The major plus of looping is that you will keep teachers with students who already know their habits, their personalities and their capabilities," Quinn said. "The downfall would be the teacher will have to learn a different curriculum each year."

Camarote, who represents a parent group opposed to redistricting the district's four elementary schools, said she wants the loop program to be shared throughout the district. "Instead of having all of the four looped classes coming from one school, which is Strathmore, they should have one class from each school loop up to fourth grade at Lloyd Road," said Camarote, who believes the Board of Education has shown strong favoritism to students attending Strathmore. "That way no one can question why all of the looped classes are coming from one school."

Sandy Morris, the principal of the Frank Defino Central School in the Marlboro Township School District, said she has seen the benefits of looping at that school. There, looping has been in place with first- and second-graders at the elementary school for the past seven years.

"With looping, the teacher knows where they are, and the student knows what is expected of them," Morris said. "When they come in September, they are in a better setting, and they know what the expectations are."

Added benefits of the program allow teachers to give students reading assignments to maintain an academic connection over the summer vacation, Morris said.

"I've never heard anything negative about this program," said Morris, who has seen test scores improve at her first- through fifth-grade school.

Test scores also improved at Strathmore in 2001, the second year of looping at the school, Rodgers said.

The program has been so well received, the parents voiced strong opinions about expanding the looping program during four public hearings in January, regarding the reorganiza-tion plan, Rodgers said.

"We haven't seen any negative impact whatsoever," Rodgers said. "The impact has been so positive that one of the issues raised by some parents was to have it continued."

Quinn said he has spent most of his summer discussing the program with teachers, who would have to learn a new cur-riculum every year if the loop-ing program is fully utilized by the district.

"We want to consider doing this, because there are a lot of benefits that can come from it," Quinn said. "But we also want to have teachers who are going to feel comfortable with mak-ing the change."

Front Page July 7, 2004

Referendum work nearing end for Mat-Ab
BY DAN NEWMAN
Staff Writer

MATAWAN - The Matawan-Aberdeen Regional School District's
school
renovation plan, which has been in the works since a 2002 referendum
was passed, is near completion as expected, and is currently under
budget.

Each of the four elementary schools - Lloyd Road, Ravine Drive,
Strathmore and Cliffwood Avenue - have repaired roofs. The
windows at
Cliffwood Avenue and Lloyd Road have been replaced, while Strathmore
and Ravine Drive should be completed by the start of the school year.

According to Laura Venter, business administrator for the district,
only two of the projects will still be outstanding at the start of the
upcoming school year. Matawan Regional High School is undergoing
classroom improvements that are slated to be completed by October,
while work at Matawan Avenue Middle School, which consists of a new
gymnasium and new classrooms, is scheduled to be done by October 2005.
This also happens to be the state-mandated deadline for the district
to stop using trailer classrooms, which are currently being used
because of overcrowding at the school.

The $36.8 million referendum, passed on Sept. 24, 2002, looks like it
will be money well spent as all of the schools in the district are
being renovated.

"The last time our district went through renovations like this was
back in the 90s, but the board passed a much smaller referendum at
that time, and so while the work got done, the project was on a much
smaller scale," Superintendent of Schools Bruce Quinn said. "This
time, the budget for the project allows for the work to get done more
completely. Last time, the project was going over budget, and so
things had to be scaled back a bit."

The construction mangers for the project, Stuart Seidman and Bill
Skillman, from Hill International, Marlton, have been working with the
district since the planning phase of the project in December 2002, and
have been in constant communication with board members, something that
has helped immensely, according to Quinn.

"Although there is a very large budget for this project, the district
as well as Hill International have been keeping tabs on the situation
since this whole thing started, and that has helped. When everybody is
paying attention to what is going on, there should be no problems at
all," Quinn said.