How did your New Jersey school district rank among the rest during the 2022-23 school year?
The New Jersey Department of Education released the latest School Performance Report this week, with school districts scored from 0 to 100 based on factors like standardized test scores, student academic growth and graduation rates, among other metrics. Some measures, like academic growth, are now included in reports again after the Department of Education canceled statewide assessments in 2019-20 and 2020-21 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The data shows a 91.1 percent four-year graduation rate (a record high since the Garden State implemented the federal graduation rate calculation in 2011), as well as the state’s second place national ranking for the highest percentage of schools offering at least one AP course.
However, the report isn’t all good news.
The data also shows the statewide proficiency rates for math and English Language Arts assessments have fallen below target for the past two years since the pandemic.
In addition, the report highlighted high numbers of chronic absenteeism (defined as being absent for 10 percent or more of the days enrolled during the school year), with 214,698 New Jersey K-12 students having been chronically absent in 2022-23. That’s up 34.76 percent from 140,068 students a decade prior.
Of those students chronically absent in 2022-23, 23.6 percent of students identified as Black and another 20.4 percent identified as Hispanic. Less than 13 percent of chronically absent students that identified as white during the same period.
How are summative scores calculated?
Schools are broken down into categories by configuration, or what grade levels they serve, and compared to others in that category. These include elementary/middle school, high school, and a mixed configuration school which combines many grades into one building.
Elementary schools which only teach children under grade three are not included, as there is no state testing at this level.
Based on the configuration, the NJ Department of Education looks at the schools’ four-year graduation rate, five-year graduation rate, English Language Arts (ELA) proficiency, math proficiency, ELA growth, math growth, and progress towards English language proficiency (ELP). A school needs to have data on three of these elements to have its score reviewed in the standard manner.
The rate of chronic absenteeism is also included in the score. Student performance is measured overall, but also focuses on how students are doing in underserved subgroups classified by race, nationality, economic situation, and special education.
What do these scores and ratings mean?
“Summative scores” provide a number from 1-99, and are based on factors listed above such as graduation rates and progress in English and math. Higher scores are better, and certain schools with lower scores are put into categories for support and improvement.
Schools are compared to one another based on grade level, as well, in the “summative ratings.” For example, schools that serve high school students only are compared with one another. These are percentile ratings from 1-100, so a school with a rating closer to 100 is among the best of its peers.
It is possible for a school to have a higher summative rating than summative score, and vice-versa.
Who are the top and bottom performers in 2022-23?
Top performers
Pennsauken Township Board of Education School District (Roosevelt Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics)
Glen Rock Public School District (Alexander Hamilton School)
Middlesex County Vocational and Technical School District (Woodbridge Academy Magnet School)
Morris County Vocational School District (Academy for Mathematics, Science and Engineering)
Monmouth County Vocational School District (High Technology High School)
Middlesex County Vocational and Technical School District (Edison Academy Magnet School)
Fair Lawn Public School District (Lyncrest Elementary School)
School District of the Chathams (Milton Avenue School)
Bergen County Vocational Technical School District (Bergen County Technical High School – Teterboro)
Haddonfield School District (Central School)
Bottom performers
Bayonne School District (Bayonne Alternative High School)
Trenton Public School District (Daylight/Twilight High School)
LEAD Charter School (LEAD Charter School)
Paulsboro School District (Paulsboro Junior High School)
Trenton Public School District (Cadwalader Elementary School)
Trenton Public School District (Joseph Stokes Elementary School)
Trenton Public School District (Thomas Jefferson Intermediate School)
Camden City School District (Forest Hill School)
Asbury Park School District (Bradley Elementary School)
Camden City School District (Camden High School)
View the full scores and ratings in the table below; there is a search bar to look for a particular school, otherwise it is sorted alphabetically by county.
Table note: Some schools did not get a score because the state did not have complete data for last school year. Schools serving only elementary students under grade 3 do not get a score, because their students do not participate in state standardized tests. Charter schools are listed separately, not by county. All schools are included.
This article originally appeared April 4, 2024 in Patch.
