74 percent of N.J. schools pass No Child Left Behind test

Published in the Asbury Park Press 9/30/04
By A. SCOTT FERGUSON
STAFF WRITER


Nearly three out of every four New Jersey public schools met federally mandated standards under the No Child Left Behind Act, but educators and state officials still are raising concerns about how the program has been applied in the state.


Based on preliminary test scores this year, 74 percent of the state's 2,398 elementary, middle and high schools met the standards for Adequate Yearly Progress under the federal act. In 2003, 65 percent of schools met those standards.

Progress under the new standards was evident in the Shore area, although educators believe more improvement is needed. In 2003, for example, 23 Monmouth County high schools and 13 high schools in Ocean County failed to make the progress standards.


This year, 15 high schools in Monmouth did not make the standards, as well as 11 in Ocean.


While more schools are doing better this year, implementing the No Child Left Behind Act has been "convoluted and complicated," state Education Commissioner William Librera said.


Figuring it out is just as complicated for parents. Several contacted about the results in their districts refused to discuss the report, saying they just did not know enough about it.


In the Pinelands Regional School District, where both the junior high and high school did not make the cut, Superintendent Detlef Kern said the district is analyzing where students need help and looking to fill the gaps.


"We want to make sure skills where they are lacking get fortified," he said yesterday.


The Adequate Yearly Progress standards are based on year-to-year comparisons of schools' scores in the: High School Proficiency Assessment given to 11th-grade students; Grade Eight Proficiency Assessments; and New Jersey Assessment of Skills and Knowledge, which are given to fourth-graders.


In order to achieve adequate progress, a school's students must meet the proficiency targets and a 95 percent participation rate in math and language arts for each of 10 subgroups, which include the total school population, students with disabilities, limited English proficiency students, economically disadvantaged students and white, Hispanic, African American, Asian/Pacific Islander and American Indian/Native American students.


If a school misses achieving progress in any one of the 40 indicators, it is placed on an "early warning" list. If a school does not achieve adequate progress in the same content area for two consecutive years, it is deemed to be a "school in need of improvement."


Schools then face the loss of federal funds.


State education officials agree with the standards that No Child Left Behind brings to the classroom. It was how the plan was implemented, and the labeling of schools as failing, that has resulted in disagreement.


"Those issues that we have are how No Child Left Behind was implemented, not the goals," said Richard Vespucci, a spokesman for the state Department of Education. "Calling a school a low-performing school goes against the grain of what educators do. It's bad to label a child and it's not a good idea to label a school with a negative label. As little as missing one indicator out of 40 can create that label."


Frank Belluscio, a spokesman for the New Jersey School Boards Association, said parents should study their individual schools to see where the problems are. He added that in most cases, a warning or improvement label means there are problems in just one area and that it does not reflect on the school as a whole.


The entire Freehold Regional High School District is listed as needing improvement, as five of the six high schools did not meet at least one of the indicators. Only Colts Neck High School met all 40 requirements.


Of the other schools, all but Freehold Borough High School missed only one or two indicators: test scores in math and language arts from students with disabilities. Freehold Borough missed eight, failing to meet requirements for math and language arts for African-American and Hispanic students, and students with disabilities or who are "economically disadvantaged."


As he did last year, Superintendent James Wasser yesterday expressed frustration as he reviewed the state's findings. To penalize entire schools for failing to meet one or two indicators, as well as demanding that students with disabilities perform on the same level as those without, is unfair and unrealistic, he said.


"I think the worst thing you can do is target kids with learning disabilities as to why schools are in a 'needs improvement' category," Wasser said. "You're stigmatizing them. You're pointing the finger at kids who in essence sometimes just can't perform at the same level as others."


Wasser said that while he disagrees with the driving philosophy behind No Child Left Behind, the district will reach out to students in need and possibly offer more after-school assistance.


Michael O'Connoll, curriculum director for the Toms River Regional school district, said the district has a targeted action plan for each of the schools that did not meet adequate yearly progress standards under the act, including Walnut Street Elementary School, Toms River Intermediate East and West and the district's three high schools, North, South and East.


The action plans aim to increase the scores of students in various subgroups at the schools who have not met the federal requirements.


In all of the schools except Walnut Street Elementary, the overall student population met the federal standards, but at least one subgroup did not meet them. At Walnut Street, the student population overall met the benchmark test scores, but did not meet the 95 percent participation rate in mathematics and language arts required for the total student population and 10 subgroups.


It was a change in locales for the fourth-grade class that kept Red Bank Middle School on the list again this year, school officials said.


Eighth-grade test scores -- which originally put the school on the list -- met the mandated improvements this year, said Elizabeth Keshish, assistant superintendent in the prekindergarten to eighth-grade district.


But fourth graders -- who were moved from the primary to the middle school one year ago -- did not. Out of 66 students, 60.6 percent tested proficient in language arts and 50 percent tested proficient and higher in math, Keshish said.


Both the language arts and math curricula have been re-written and the district plans to introduce TargetTeach -- a program that aligns lessons with skills required on the tests -- to all grade levels by June 2006, Keshish said. Officials already credit the program -- which had not yet been administered to fourth-graders -- for improvements in other grades.


And there is hope for next year. Last spring 87.5 percent of third-graders tested proficient and higher in both math and language arts.


"We are optimistic for the future," Keshish said.


Staff writers Jean Mikle, Brian Prince, James Quirk and Alison Waldman contributed to this story.

First week finished at fire-damaged school

ABERDEEN - The first week of classes at the Matawan Avenue Middle School went smoothly, with everybody working around the damage of a Labor Day fire that twice delayed the opening of school.

"We are generally pleased with how things are going," Schools Superintendent Bruce Quinn said.

The school is currently operating in half-day split sessions, with the seventh- and eighth-graders attending from 8:19 a.m. until 12:34 p.m., and students in grade six from 12:39-4:55 p.m.

"We had some bugs the first day," Quinn said. "The transition worked out well; it got better each day."

The borough of Matawan opened the doors to its community center to hold a morning latchkey program for the students in grade six.

"The community center was very accessible to us," Quinn said. "About 40 students showed up each day, and there was always adequate supervision. It worked out well."

The split sessions are a result of the lack of space caused by the fire. The fire damaged a sizable portion of the building that is still unsafe and being cleaned.

"We are trying to get classrooms back as soon as we can," Quinn said.

The Board of Education was hoping to resume full-time classes on Oct. 4, but that date is out of the question at this point, Quinn said. They are now shooting for Oct. 18, and are not even sure if that will happen, he said.

In order to open full time, the cafeteria has to be ready so the students will have a place to eat, Quinn said.

Also, the gymnasium will soon be ready to open, but will not be used for physical education because it will be needed to hold classes when the school opens for full-day sessions.

All students in the school are currently taking their one marking period of health. The marking period ends around Thanksgiving, Quinn said.

Once there are enough classrooms to open full time, a grade-six team may have to take classes at the Lloyd Road School, which houses grades kindergarten through five. The middle school groups its students into teams, with each team containing the same group of teachers. There are three teams of students in grade six.

In the areas that were damaged, some tiles need to come up and some walls need to be knocked down. The cleanup is coming along well, Quinn said.

The school also needs to replace a roof deck in an area behind its auditorium.

"The biggest problem is getting the steel for the roof deck," Quinn said. “As soon as they get the steel, they will start on that.

"We have to create a safe environment," Quinn said.

Things are going as best as could be expected, Quinn said. Although the sessions are shortened, things are going as smoothly as they can right now, he said.

Plan for emergencies

Published in the Asbury Park Press 9/21/04

An Asbury Park Press editorial

The aftermath of the fire that left Matawan and Aberdeen middle school students without usable classrooms should be a lesson to school districts everywhere. Just as emergency management officials have evacuation plans in place, school officials should devise plans to educate their students in the event an emergency renders their facilities unusable.

The "what if" planning should begin with an inventory of municipal buildings, community centers, churches and other organizations with available space that could be used as classrooms for an extended period of time.

The Matawan Avenue Middle School was closed after a suspicious Labor Day fire destroyed at least 7,000 square feet of roofing. School officials began staggered sessions yesterday and hope to be open completely within the next few weeks. Earlier this month, volunteer parents and teachers began running staggered sessions for the students at the Community Center.

About 1,000 youngsters from Matawan and Aberdeen were affected by the delay, which was an unwelcome surprise for many parents who found themselves wondering where to send their children and how the district would reschedule the missed classroom time -- a question that has yet to be answered.

Relocating an entire school is a huge undertaking. Having an emergency plan in place could make it less onerous for students, parents and teachers alike.

Matawan Ave. school opens -- at last

Published in the Asbury Park Press 9/21/04

By BOB JORDAN
FREEHOLD BUREAU

ABERDEEN -- The Labor Day fire that destroyed roofing at Matawan Avenue Middle School meant delaying the first day of school. That day arrived yesterday, ending two extra weeks of summer vacation for the school's nearly 1,000 students.

"It was fun to have more vacation," said Michael Smith, a sixth-grader.

But Michael's mother, Juanita Jeffries, and other parents said it wasn't fun juggling their work schedules with the needs of their children.

"It's been stressful," Jeffries said.

The school opened to split sessions for the sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders yesterday.

Matawan-Aberdeen Regional School District Superintendent Bruce Quinn said the administration is pushing to have the school open for full sessions by Oct. 4, "but the construction and cleanup people are telling me that Oct. 11 might be more realistic."

The half-days are helpful to Bonnie Krause, who said she had been adding an extra 40 minutes each way on her work commute in order to accommodate the lack of a school schedule for her son, Nick, a sixth-grader.

"Nick's been lucky because I've been taking him to his aunt's pet grooming shop every day on Staten Island," Krause said before school started yesterday. "He wants to go to school, but he's a little apprehensive because of the changes. For me, I feel good because I think it's going to be fine and that they'll open for full days in a couple of weeks. The school administrative has communicated well and is handing things well."

But Jeffries said: "I think it's going to be chaotic, maybe until the end of next month. It's going to take a while. Even before the fire, you could see some problems from construction delays at the school. There were mounds of dirt they expected kids to walk through."

The Sept. 6 fire, which law enforcement officials have called suspicious, destroyed more than 7,000 square feet of roofing.

Damage from fire, smoke and water at the school is estimated at more than $500,000, Quinn said, and could reach between $750,000 and $1 million. All of the damage will be paid for by insurance, minus a $5,000 deductible, Quinn said.

The district's six other schools have not been affected by the delayed opening at the middle school, Quinn said.

Quinn said the district's schools were closed two days last week for a holiday, and middle school students have missed five scheduled days of school. Some of those days may be made up "on the single holidays" such as Columbus Day, Veterans Day, King Day and Presidents Day, Quinn said.

A revised calendar -- with a proposed program to have in-school celebrations and studies of those holidays -- needs to be considered by the Board of Education, Quinn said. There are also four snow days included in the current calendar that can be used for makeup days, he said.

The current school calendar calls for a June 27 ending of the academic year for students, Quinn said.

Because not all the damaged school's rooms are ready for instruction purposes, middle school students are attending class on a staggered schedule. Seventh- and eighth-graders attend from 8:19 a.m. to 12:35 p.m. Sixth-graders attend from 12:39 p.m. to 4:55 p.m.

To help the parents in need of child care during the half-days, the Matawan Council has provided the use of the Matawan community center on Broad Street, where district staff members and volunteers are running a latch-key program. Bob Jordan: (732) 308-7751

APP.COM - Seemingly endless summer for kids at Matawan Avenue Middle School

Two seen running from scene of middle school fire, police say

Published in the Asbury Park Press 9/09/04

By RODNEY POINT-DU-JOUR
KEYPORT BUREAU

ABERDEEN -- Shortly after smoke was sighted billowing from the roof of the Matawan Avenue Middle School three days ago, two young males were seen fleeing the scene of the fire, police said yesterday.

Aberdeen police and the Monmouth County Prosecutors Office are continuing the investigation into a suspicious Labor Day fire at the middle school. Administrators for the Matawan-Aberdeen Regional School District were forced to postpone the reopening of school to Monday, but the fire will not affect today's start of the 2004-05 school year at the district's other six schools.

Monmouth County Prosecutor John Kaye said officials are interviewing people who attended a barbecue near the school who said they saw two young males running from the school during the fire.

The barbecue was at a house on Myrtle Street, Aberdeen Police Chief Joseph Kelly said.

Investigators spent the last few days interviewing several witnesses, including two other residents who videotaped the fire, Kelly said.

"It's really disrupted the beginning of school (at the middle school) for us," Kelly said. "If we determine this to be truly a crime, we're determined to find the person who did this."

Aberdeen police are also investigating several complaints of vandalism along Grove Street, near the middle school. Obscene phrases and lines were found spray-painted in yellow on several construction vehicles and on two cars parked along Grove Street, and some of the vehicle windows were smashed, Kelly said.

Kelly also said the windows to the middle school nurse's office were smashed in and a cable satellite dish was destroyed.

Police believe the vandalism took place over a two-day period, between Aug. 22 and 24, and was done by juveniles living close to the school, Kelly said.

Both school and police officials would not say whether the recent vandalism and the roof fire are related.

On Monday, classes at the middle school will start on a staggered schedule.

Anyone with more information about the fire can call the Aberdeen Police Department at (732) 566-2057.

Fire delays opening of Matawan-Aberdeen middle school

Published in the Asbury Park Press 9/08/04

2 SHIFTS: Morning session for grades 7, 8

By RODNEY POINT-DU-JOUR
KEYPORT BUREAU

ABERDEEN -- School officials yesterday pushed back the opening of the Matawan Avenue Middle School, a day after a fire now deemed suspicious broke out on the roof of the building.

The Matawan-Aberdeen Regional Board of Education decided to start the school's 2004-05 year Monday instead of tomorrow, when the district's four elementary schools, preschool and high school are slated to reopen for the year.

When classes do begin, the students will be on a staggered schedule. Seventh- and eighth-graders will be in session from 8:19 a.m. to 12:35 p.m. with sixth-graders attending from 12:39 p.m. to 4:55 p.m., officials said.

A storage space containing roofing materials located on top of the roof was ignited late in the afternoon, shortly after custodians made final preparations inside the building for a new school year, Superintendent Bruce Quinn said.

"Obviously, this is something we didn't plan for," Quinn told the hundreds of parents who packed a standing-room-only board meeting last night. "We're devastated at the fact that we lost a building that was ready to go and ready for the new school year."

Quinn also said the fire was being investigated by law enforcement officials as "suspicious."

Aberdeen police are also investigating several complaints of vandalism that took place Aug. 24 and 25 in the school and along nearby Grove Street.

Obscene phrases and lines were found spray-painted in yellow on several construction vehicles and two cars parked along the street, and some of their windows were smashed, said Police Chief Joseph Kelly.

Windows in the middle school nurse's office were smashed in, the school's gym doors spray-painted and a satellite dish destroyed. A telephone box connected to a construction office trailer was found ripped from the structure, Kelly said.

Police believe juveniles are responsible.

Neither school officials nor police would confirm that the vandalism and fire are related.

"At this point, it's a little to early to draw that conclusion," Deputy Chief John T. Powers said, adding that police are investigating the fire, as is the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office.

Safety is top priority

Walter Kain, 55, of Aberdeen, who was among the parents who attended last night's meeting, said he was thankful no children were hurt.

"It has got to be safe for the kids," said Kain, who was at the meeting with his son Michael, 11, who is starting sixth grade at the school. "That's the number-one priority."

The middle school is undergoing a $15 million building project for 20 new classrooms, an expanded cafeteria and a new gym. Construction at the school is scheduled to be completed by September 2005.

Anyone with information about the fire or vandalism is asked to call police at (732) 566-2057.

School district vows to open on time

Published in the Asbury Park Press 9/02/04

By RODNEY POINT-DU-JOUR
KEYPORT BUREAU

ABERDEEN -- Despite ongoing construction at the high school and middle school, the 2004-05 school year at the Matawan-Aberdeen Regional School District is expected to start next Thursday.

At Matawan Regional High School, an $8.4-million project for classroom upgrades is nearly completed, and at Matawan Avenue Middle School, a $15.2-million project for 10 new classrooms and a gymnasium is being constructed, said Bruce Quinn, the district superintendent.

The two building improvements, which are part of a district-wide $38.5-million construction project, are expected to continue as school reopens next Thursday, Quinn said.

Officials already moved yesterday's scheduled opening to Sept. 9 because of ongoing contract talks between administrators and the Matawan Teachers Association, the district's union, but the school year is expected to begin next Thursday despite rumors about postponing students' return from summer vacation. The contract expired in June.

"All summer we've been getting these rumors that we're not starting on time, and it's so untrue," Quinn said. "We knew what we were dealing with and we planned for it."

The district has already completed $8.8 million in improvements at the Cliffwood Avenue, Lloyd Road, Ravine Drive and Strathmore elementary schools.

The district-wide improvements are part of a $38.5-million building project, which was in a referendum approved by voters in 2002.

At the high school, there are currently seven classrooms that will be closed during construction. The district expects to get four classrooms back within the next two weeks and the other three by October, which would complete the major portion of the construct project. Students would temporarily be in larger class sizes, he said.

At the middle school, the district is down five classrooms. Construction at that building is expected to last all year, Quinn said.

When the project is complete, officials are expected to remove the classroom trailers at Matawan Avenue in the spring, which is also the state-mandated deadline for the district to stop using the trailers.

School is expected to start next Thursday with two half-day sessions -- as planned, Quinn said.

"We knew what we were facing with construction, and we knew we wouldn't be ready," Quinn said. "We're right where we anticipated we would be."

Carol Smith, 45, of Brookside Avenue in Aberdeen, a mother of five children, said she's skeptical about school starting on time, even with reassurances from administrators.

"I just don't believe it," said Smith, who will have a fourth-grader at Lloyd Road and a junior at the high school. "I'll see it when my kids are at school on (Sept. 9).

"I'll believe it when I see it."

Rodney Point-Du-Jour: (732) 888-2619 or rpoint@app.com