State Test Scores Reveal Some Gains, Widening Achievement Gap

The annual release of New Jersey school test scores can be maddening in its mixed messages.

On the one hand, the 2010-2011 scores released yesterday rose slightly or at least held steady overall in a majority of grades, a good thing for what have been tough times. In math, there were some notable gains for any given year.

On the other, state officials are quick to point out that the gaps in achievement between rich and poor, white and minority, are wide and in some instances widening alarmingly.

Those results are unsurprising, insofar as they reflect nationwide trends. But the findings have taken on added weight under Gov. Chris Christie and his education reform agenda, much of it aimed at districts where the achievement is lowest.

How the numbers all add up is still to be determined, but there were lessons to be learned at yesterday's state Board of Education's meeting, as well as considerable talk as to what lies ahead.

Lesson No. 1: In tough times, New Jersey kids rose to the challenge

The 2010-2011 school year was no joy ride. 

Not only was the state still gripped by the Great Recession -- putting enormous pressure on schools and families -- but also districts lost close to $1 billion in state aid, forcing cuts and layoffs at a level previously unseen. A report by the New York Federal Reserve Bank, released yesterday, found some of the steepest cuts in some of the state's poorest districts.

Given that situation, it wouldn’t have been a big surprise if overall achievement levels had dropped. They didn't

Compiling all student scores in math and language arts for the first time revealed that 89.6 percent of high school students passed the state's math test on the first try, while 75 percent did the same for language arts. Those percentages show small but significant increases on tests that typically don't show much change.

In the elementary and middle schools, 75 percent passed math on the first try; 66 percent passed language arts. Those results remain largely unchanged, but individual grades showed some promise. Reading scores rose in the critical third and fourth grades, but dropped in Grades 7 and 8. It was better news in math, where there were consistent gains.

"At all grade levels, we are seeing positive and significant increases," said assistant commissioner Bari Erlichson, who presented the findings.

The one real blemish on the overall scores? The results for the state's science exams, long seen as the easiest of the tests, with passing rates typically in the 80th and 90th percentiles. This time out, fourth grade results fell from 93 percent to 90 percent; in the eighth grade, they dropped from 83 percent to 81 percent.

The state's new high-school biology test, once seen as a possible graduation requirement but on hold for that purpose, saw a slight gain in 2011, but only 57 percent of students passed overall.

Lesson No. 2: Where the numbers get troubling -- and complicated

For every encouraging result, though, there is troubling evidence of children left behind, and in some cases falling even further behind.

Acting education commissioner Chris Cerf is adamant in highlighting the gaping chasm between low-income students and those not at an economic disadvantage -- rather than between white and Asian students vs. black and Hispanic.

In elementary school language arts, for instance, the gap between low-income students and everyone else is close to 30 percentage points, up from 26 points seven years ago. Among third graders in the state's poorest districts, barely 40 percent passed the state's reading and writing test.

"The bottom line is the achievement gap is wide throughout the state," said Arcelio Aponte, the state board's president. "Although maybe trending up in some cases, it's still a 30 percent gap. How could anyone find that acceptable?"

Continue reading this story in NJ Spotlight.

NJ Spotlight is an online news service providing insight and information on issues critical to New Jersey.