Report Card: Washington Township School District Enjoys High Scores

Considered to be the second highest in the socio-economic scale employed when assessing New Jersey school districts, Washington Township enjoyed outstanding scores overall compared to similar districts.

Rick Papera, Assistant Superintendent of Schools presented the 2011 results of the New Jersey Assessment of Skills & Knowledge (NJ ASK) and the Measures of Academic Progress (M.A.P.) tests at the Washington Township Middle School Board of Education meeting on Nov. 15, 2011.

In the discipline of mathematics, Washington Township scored significantly above similar districts in 12 areas of testing, and on par in 15 areas of testing. There were three 'subtest' areas in which the township fell below similar districts, but only by less than one percent.

Overall, general education students scored 94 percent above the state average in mathematics. Special education students in the township scored between 47 and 80 percent above the state average.

In language arts literacy, the percentage above the state average was only slightly lower. In ther area of general education, all grades scored 89 percent above the state average, with the highest being 97.9 percent for eighth graders.

Special education students scored overall, only 39 percent higher than the state average. 

The board discussed the need to increase scores of special education students which included additional training for both special education and general education teachers who may have special ed students in their classes. 

Papera said that the lower scores in the special education category appear to be consistent to the scores in towns such as Madison, Chatham and Millburn. 

He also said he believes the approach to assessing the success and progress of general and special education students is moving toward more individual assessment, rather than a one size fits all measurement.