Hightstown High School Class of 2013 Excels on State Required Exam

The Hightstown High School Class of 2013 achieved higher results on the High School Proficiency Assessment than any other HHS class since the inception of the test.

East Windsor Regional School District Assistant Superintendent Michael Dzwonar reported at the Board of Education meeting August 20 that students scored higher than ever for both the english and mathematics sections of the state required test.

District officials cited several factors as contributing to these results. 

“The impressive results are the result of many changes instituted in the curriculum, resources, pedagogy, and professional development over the last eight years,” said Superintendent Ed Forsthoffer. “While these resources are tools to place in the hands of teachers and students, these gains could not have been achieved without the extraordinary efforts of our professional staff and willing students.”

Ninety-three percent of the high school population scored at the proficient level in the mathematics section of the test. Within this group, 42.2 percent of students scored at the advanced proficiency level.

These numbers surpassed the state numbers by a comfortable margin, officials said, with 87.6 percent of New Jersey students rated at the proficient level.

Similarly, the high school’s advanced proficient cohort percent of 42.2 percent exceeded that of the state’s 32.1 percent. The cohort also exceeded the district factor group by four percentage points.

General population HHS students did nearly as well when compared to the district factor group, behind its comparable cohort by half a percent. 

Scores in language arts literacy were also noteworthy, with the general population cohort achieving a proficiency level of 98.7 percent, the highest a class has ever achieved. Within this group, 25.9 percent of HHS students scored in the advanced proficiency range.

The general population proficiency cohort exceeded the state result of 96.3 percent, while the HHS advanced proficiency group matched the state mark of 25.9 percent.  

As with math, the language arts results kept pace with the district factor group, which scored 99 percent proficiency, while HHS students came in with 98.6 percent proficiency.

The HHS advanced proficiency cohort in language arts literacy lagged slightly behind the district factor group advanced proficiency group, which scored 31.2 percent while HHS advanced proficiency students scored 25.9 percent.