School Report Card: Morris Plains Ahead of State in Every Category Despite Drop in Grade Three Language Skills

In December, Patch published a story on the  for the school year 2008-09, showing that students in the  scored better than the state average on every area of skills assessment.

That statement still holds true in the 2009-10 data released Tuesday, despite a dip in language arts skills among third and fourth-graders. 

Once again, the highest overall numbers on the report for Morris Plains came in science, a subject where students are assessed in fourth and eighth grades:

84.6

Math scores, too, remained significantly higher than state averages. The overall average for math proficiency in Morris Plains remained virtually unchanged at 92.9% in 2009-10 vs. 92.6 in 2008-09, though numbers at each grade level varied. 

Seventh Grade

The lowest score for the district in 2009-10 came in the third-grade language arts assessment, where 75.9% of students achieved proficiency, down from 82.1% in 2008-09. Language arts scores dropped for fourth graders as well, from 94.8% to 83.3%.  Despite the drop, third and fourth grade scores remained 16% and 23%, respectively, above state averages.

All other grades improved or remained essentially the same in their language arts assessments. 

The latest figures from the state still show the district spending more than other New Jersey Schools do, on average, to educate each student. But the gap continues to shrink, from to $1,823 in 2007-08 to $1,317 in 2008-09 to $528 in the latest figures from 2009-10.

For the second year in a row, the district's "comparitive costs per pupil" (a measure that focuses on schools of similar size) was lower than the state average.

Finally, a slow rise in enrollment is seen when comparing data from a 4 year period. It is unclear whether the increase can be attributed to larger families, children leaving private schools due to the economy or some other factor.

Patch has requested a comment from the Morris Plains Superintendent of Schools Dennis Mack. We hope to provide that information when it becomes available.