Schools

State Releases Schools Report Card

The report, initiated in 1995, serves as an accountability report for parents to keep track of schools.

Absegami High School had a higher graduation percentage than the rest of the Greater Egg Harbor Regional School District, on average, by a percentage point, and was nearly two points higher than the average for the rest of the state for the 2009-10 school year, according to the state of New Jersey’s Schools Report Card for public and charter schools, released Tuesday.

The school’s dropout rate was lower than both the district and the state averages.

Meanwhile, the Galloway School District saw its “partial proficiency” rates for the NJ ASK testing fall in some areas and rise in others. There was also a high rate of student and staff mobility across the board.

Find out what's happening in Gallowaywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"In terms of student mobility, the percentages, which are often in the teens, have remained fairly consistent over the years," Galloway Superintendent of Schools Annette Giaquinto said via e-mail Tuesday night. "A variety of factors contribute to mobility. These include availability of residences for rent in the area, families moving within the district, the changing economic conditions based in part on the number of parents/guardian who work in the casino industry, and other such factors.

"In terms of staff mobility, the percentages do vary from year-to-year based on factors such as staff retirements, reassignment within the district, etc.

Find out what's happening in Gallowaywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"The report card serves as one source of information regarding our schools. I encourage interested readers to take time to review the messages from the various administrators. These messages help families understand the positive aspects of each school’s environment."

The Galloway Community Charter School saw high numbers of partially proficient scores on the NJ ASK tests, highlighted by an 82.1 percent partial proficiency for fifth-graders in the language arts literacy section.

Proficient and advanced are considered passing scores, while partially proficient is considered a failing score.

The report card was initiated in 1995 as a way to inform the public about every school in the state. It is used as an accountability report of schools to parents.

The report card provides information on school environment issues, such as average class size, length of school day and instructional time, among others; student information, including enrollment by grade and language diversity; performance on tests, such as the NJ ASK, NJEA and SATs; and financial information, including salaries and expenditures.

Each school in each district is included. Graduation and dropout rates are also included.

The high school graduated 96.5 percent of its students last year, an increase over last year’s 95.9 percent last year. The district graduation rate was 96.4, and the average for the rest of the state was 94.7 percent.

Absegami had a total dropout rate of 1.6 percent, with both the district and the state checking in at 1.7 percent.

The report card also stated that 47.2 percent of the graduating class had plans of attending a four-year college, while 42.4 percent planned to spend the ensuing fall at a two-year institution, and 2.4 percent planned on attending another post-secondary school. Five percent planned on joining the work force, while 2.5 percent planned to enter the military.

Students taking the High School Proficiency Assessment test scored 70.4 percent proficient and 18.9 percent advanced in the language arts section, and 52 percent proficient and 21.8 percent advanced in mathematics. All numbers were down from last year, except the advanced language arts number, which spiked from 12.3 percent a year ago.

Among regular students, 95.4 percent passed the HSPA test, five points higher than the state average. The total percentage graduating, 87.3, was also five points higher than the state average.

Students scored an average of 511 on the SAT in mathematics, while scoring a 487 average in verbal and 484 on the essay portion. All numbers were higher than the district, and all were lower than the state averages.

The high school had a lower attendance rate than the state across the board.

Galloway Township School information is available here: education.state.nj.us/rc/rc10/menu/01-1690.html

Information for Absegami is available here: education.state.nj.us/rc/rc10/menu/01-1790.html

Information for the Galloway Community Charter School is available here: education.state.nj.us/rc/rc10/rcoptions.php?c=80;d=6612;s=912;lt=G;st=T

Further information for all districts is included here: education.state.nj.us/rc/rc10/index.html


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