Help me understand NJ school system report cards. (Hopatcong, Rockaway: houses, school district)

[ottomobeale]

Here is Morris Knolls
NEW JERSEY SCHOOL REPORT CARD 2005-2006

partial = failed?
Proficient = passed?
Advanced = Passed very well?

This school looks like it is ranked as failing yet it appears to me to be doing well about 90% of the time.

Here is Hopatcong
NEW JERSEY SCHOOL REPORT CARD 2005-2006

Not doing as well but appears about 80% of the kids are doing OK. yet I see to beware of Hopatcong Schools. I bring this one up because the houses are affordable (In the New Jersey sense of the word)

I then go to another part of the same site which seems to indicate that by 2012 they expect 100% pass rates?!?! Are the standards makers using the drugs they proclaim to keep their charges off of?

There is NO way any school district with any size can do 100% pass rate year over year. It may be unPC to say it but 5-10% of kids from good families are crack head stoner losers. (The inverse is also true 5-10% of the kids with crack head parents living in urban hell are going to make it.)

My son starts school in a few years. Someone enlighten me on how to read these charts better so I may make an informed decision next summer when we move... again.

[tahiti]

Originally Posted by ottomobeale

Here is Morris Knolls
NEW JERSEY SCHOOL REPORT CARD 2005-2006

partial = failed?
Proficient = passed?
Advanced = Passed very well?

This school looks like it is ranked as failing yet it appears to me to be doing well about 90% of the time.

Here is Hopatcong
NEW JERSEY SCHOOL REPORT CARD 2005-2006

Not doing as well but appears about 80% of the kids are doing OK. yet I see to beware of Hopatcong Schools. I bring this one up because the houses are affordable (In the New Jersey sense of the word)

I then go to another part of the same site which seems to indicate that by 2012 they expect 100% pass rates?!?! Are the standards makers using the drugs they proclaim to keep their charges off of?

There is NO way any school district with any size can do 100% pass rate year over year. It may be unPC to say it but 5-10% of kids from good families are crack head stoner losers. (The inverse is also true 5-10% of the kids with crack head parents living in urban hell are going to make it.)

My son starts school in a few years. Someone enlighten me on how to read these charts better so I may make an informed decision next summer when we move... again.

i don't have time to type a lot - but i believe you're looking at NCLB scores, which is nationwide, not unique to NJ. it's also a big crock. i wouldn't put much stock in these scores. i'd look at things like graduation rate, % of students who head to college, number of advanced classes offered.

there was an article in the daily record recently that spoke of the schools which "failed" NCLB - and it turns out all but one or two failed because student with LD's didn't pass, and are expected to. i suspect morris knolls falls into that category (students with LD's "causing" the school to fail).

Welcome to www.dailyrecord.com - Morris County - 17 Morris schools fall below federal testing standard

eta: NCLB requires 100% passage by 2012. Again, not a NJ thing, but nationwide.

[hrjersey]

Tahiti has it right. The No Child Left Behind Act instituted by our current president is what you are looking at. I can give you and example of how stupid some of this is. I teach a third grade learning disabilities class. All of my students are required to take the state NJASK test...and by 2012 they will all be expected to pass. This is simply not possible (that's why they are special ed. This students will not all be able to pass - some will but never all). Additionally, the students that I get this Sept are expected to show Adequate yearly Progress (AYP). This means that my ability to teach is based on whether the students I have this year will perform better on the test than the students I had last year. OK...please understand we are not judging the same students as I had, we are judging a new group. So if I have lower performing students this year with more severe disabilities the government expects me to still raise them up past the previous years class. Yes, we are comparing apples to oranges but that's what the state expects from all students in all classes whether special ed or not. Crazy...you bet! I'm not making excuses for teachers but there is a lot more that goes into educating our children then what goes on in the classroom.

So to answer your question. It is possible to be a great school and still fail because if you don't do better this year than you did last then you fail.

One last thing...graduation rates don't always show the whole picture. Many districts have a large drop out rate as soon as students reach 8th or 9th grade. These students are not included in the graduation rates.

[ottomobeale]

So how do I get an accurate picture of all the Morris Co districts? Hopatcong is attractive because though far out, I can afford a house in a yearish due to better prices for decent houses. yet I hear to beware of the schools. Rockaway is also of interest and possibly Denville. Most other districts are simply too expensive.