Cranford High Sees Decrease in Grads Planning For Four-Year College

About 72 percent of 2010 graduates from Cranford High School said post-matriculation plans include attending a 4-year college or university, compared to 92.3 percent of the 2009 matriculating class, according to the annual New Jersey Report Cards released to the public today by the state Department of Education.

However the amount of Cranford graduates that report attending 2-year colleges more than doubled – from 7.1 percent of the 2009 class to 16.8 percent in 2010.

Compiled each year statewide, New Jersey Report Cards not only outline statistics on student post-graduation plans but also Cranford School District expenditures.

The Cranford School District spent less than average per pupil in the 2009-10 school year – $13,810 per pupil compared to the state average of $15,538. Salaries, benefits, textbooks and other costs are factored into the report.

While per-student costs have come in below the state average for the past four years, Cranford School District expenditures rise a few hundred dollars annually. 

In 2006-2007, the district spent $12,879 per student. That number rose to $13,156 in 2007-2008, to $13,565 for 2008-2009, and now to $13,810 last year.

New Jersey Report Cards also outline student performance on state exams.

At the elementary school level, 91.5 percent of third graders scored at least proficient in mathematics and 79.6 percent in language arts on the New Jersey Assessment of Skills and Knowledge (NJASK) test. In fourth grade, 76.4 percent scored at least proficient in language arts, 86.7 percent in mathematics and 98.1 percent in science.

At the middle schools, 77 percent of fifth graders scored at least proficient in language arts and 84 percent in mathematics on NJASK. In sixth grade, 81.4 percent of students were at least proficient in language arts and 87.6 were in mathematics. For seventh grade, 81.8 were at least proficient in language arts and 82.4 in mathematics. Eighth grade: 93.3 percent were at least proficient in language arts, 89 percent were in mathematics, and 96.5 percent were in science.

At the high school level, 94.8 percent of students scored at least proficient in language arts on the High School Proficiency Assessment test, with 32.6 percent of those being advanced. In mathematics, 81.9 percent of students scored at least proficient, with 36.6 percent of those being advanced.

The State Report Card also reveals that SAT scores for students at  are above the New Jersey average. During 2008-2009, students scored an average of 532 on mathematics, 511 on verbal and 513 on essay. In comparison, the state as a whole scored 520 in mathematics, 497 on verbal and 499 on essay.