Student Growth at Fairview School Is High, Says State DOE Report

Student growth at Fairview Elementary School is high when compared to other schools around the state -- even very high compared to schools just like it.

But its academic performance and college/career readiness is considered to be about average when compared to schools throughout New Jersey, and below average when put against its own peer group, according to a recent report by the New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE). 

The assessments were made in the state's recently released new performance reports, which replaces the school report cards issued in past years.

There are 339 students of the Fairview's K-5th grade school in Middletown, where 12 percent of the school population are students with a disability, 9.4 percent are economically disadvantaged, and 2.7 percent have limited English profiency. The school, located in Fairview, is part of a peer group which includes New Monmouth School in Middletown and Adelphia School in Howell. 

Academic Achievement

The DOE uses language arts literacy and math proficiency on the New Jersey Assessment of Skills and Knowledge (NJ ASK) test as a benchmark.  

Overall, Fairview outperformed only 13 percent of its peer group and 51 percent statewide in proficiency of those areas. 

It met 100 percent of its No Child Left Behind targets. 

• Language arts proficiency schoolwide last year was 73 percent. (In Grade 5, only 4 percent of the students scored in the advanced proficient range of the test, but 62 scored in the proficient range.) The school met its NCLB target. This proficiency rate placed it in the 16th percentile compared to schools in its peer group, and 54th percentile compared to all schools statewide. 

• When it came to math, schoolwide proficiency overall was 86 percent, beating the NCLB target of 84 percent. (Last year, more than half of the fifth graders scored in the advanced proficiency range on the test, just like the year before.) The proficiency rate placed Fairview Elementary in the 10th percentile in its peer group and 48th percentile statewide.

College and Career Readiness

Fairview's Elementary's college and career readiness is considered to be "about average" when compared to schools across the state.  This measurement uses school attendance to as an indicator of the kind of behavior that indicates future success in college or careers. 

Two percent of the student body had perfect attendance, 41 percent of the school's population was absent 1-5 times, 29 percent were absent 6-10 times, 16 percent 11-15 times, and 11 percent missed more than 15 days of school.  

The Fairview elementary school met 100 percent of its target goals in college and career readiness targets set by the state.

Student growth

Fairview Elementary got high marks for student growth. 

Student growth is measured by the performance of students from one year to the next on the NJ ASK in Language Arts Literacy and Math sections. It compares students against other students with a similar history of performance on the test.

The median schoolwide growth rate was reported to be 58 and 65 percent for language arts and math, respectively, which was well above the statewide goal of 35 percent, allowing the school to easily meet its targets. 

Overall, Fairview School outperformed 74 percent of schools statewide for student growth, and 80 percent of its peer group. The state said it the school's student growth performance is "high" when compared to schools across the state, and "very high" when compared to its peers. 

The following chart is where Fairview Elementary School ranked compared to schools in its peer group and statewide. For example, Fairview has a statewide percentile rank of 51 when it comes to academic achievement, which means that its students scored higher than 51 percent of all schools statewide in the ranking.

Demographics

The school population of 339 students in 2011-12 at Fairview Elementary School was 87.9 percent white, 4.8 percent Hispanic, 3.9 percent Asian, 3 percent Black, and 0.3 percent Pacific Islander.

The spoken language at home was English (98.5 percent). The following languages were spoken by .3 percent of students at home: German, Hindi, Malayalam, Tagalog and Telugu. 

The school had 42 students with disabilities (12 percent of enrollment), 32 economically disadvantaged students (9.4 percent of the school) and 9 students with limited English proficiency, (2.7 percent of the school.) 

There were 182 males to 157 females enrolled in the school in 2011-12. 

In the school narrative accompanying the state report, Elementary School Principal Linda Waldron said that students are held to high academic and behavioral standards. 

"The bar is set high so that children reach their full potential and develop a work ethic that will help them succeed throughout life," she wrote. 

In another section, she noted, "Support from home is critical to learning, and together the school’s educational team and the parents shape the child. We are very fortunate to have supportive parents and an active, caring, involved community."

Read more on how Middletown schools were rated by the NJ School Performance Report:

• Middletown High Schools
• Middletown Middle Schools