School Report Card Data Issued By State

The 2009-10 School Report Cards were issued by the New Jersey Department of Education this week. The reports contain a great deal of information including class size, standardized test performance, per pupil spending and more.

Nearly 85 percent of the revenue that funded the New Milford Public School District last school year came from local sources as compared to the state average of 51 percent. New Milford schools received only 11 percent of their funding from the state but on average around New Jersey, other districts received 40 percent of their funding from the state. The district received four percent of its funding from the federal government and other sources while the state average was nine percent of funding from these areas.

The New Milford School District spent nearly $13,393 on average per pupil which was lower than the state average of $15,538.

The average number of years of experience for teachers in New Milford was seven as compared to 10 years around the state. New Milford administrators averaged 12 years of experience as compared to 20 years of experience on average around the state. The average faculty salary in New Milford was about $10,000 less than the state average. 

Berkley Street School

Class size at Berkley is higher than the state average in most grades with the exception of last year's first grade. Kindergarten classrooms at Berkley averaged 26.3 students compared to 15.9 students per classroom around the state.

Nearly nine percent of students enrolled at Berkley have Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) which require the school district to provide supports services for their identified disability.

Just under half the students at Berkley speak English as their primary language at home. Nearly 18 percent of students speak Spanish as their primary language and another 11 percent speak Tagalong. Other primary languages of Berkley students included Malayalam, Japanese, Arabic and Korean among others. The number of students with limited proficiency in English was 4.4 percent.

Third grade students taking the NJASK3 Language Arts test were on par with their peers at Gibbs School but were under the average for similar schools in their District Factor Group (DFG). In math, these same students were on par with their peers at Gibbs and with students in the DFG.

Fourth graders taking the NJASK4 Language Arts test significantly outperformed their peers at schools in the DFG. More than 85 percent of fourth graders passed the math exam and outdid their peers in the DFG, with five percent more of Berkley students scored advanced as compared to students in the DFG. The science exam showed Berkley fourth graders to be right on par with peers in the district and in the DFG.

More than 80 percent of Berkley fifth graders passed the NJASK5 language arts test compared with only 69 percent of students passing in the DFG. In math testing, Berkley fifth graders were on par with Gibbs students and those in the DFG districts for the overall passing rate but more Berkley students scored advanced than their peers at Gibbs.

Just under 59 percent of Berkley teachers hold a bachelors degree with slightly more than 41 percent having earned a masters degree.

Gibbs School

Class size at Gibbs was also above the state average with grades kindergarten, three and five being the largest with at least five more students in the classroom than the average around the state.

Nearly seven percent of students enrolled at Gibbs required an IEP to address their disabilities. 

Almost 63 percent of Gibbs students speak English as their primary language at home. A little over 12 percent speak Spanish as their primary language and more than six percent speak Turkish. Tagalong, Korean, Arabic and Cebuano were other languages that Gibbs students listed as the language they speak at home. Slightly more than two percent of students were considered to have limited proficiency in English.

The NJASK3 language arts test showed Gibbs students performing on par with their peers at Berkley but nearly six percent of students in DFG schools scored advanced while no students at Gibbs or Berkley scored in that range. The math test showed Gibbs students to be on par with peers in the district and the DFG.

Fourth graders at Gibbs did well on the NJASK4 language arts test with more than 75 percent passing. This was higher than both the DFG average and the state average. Slightly less students at Gibbs scored advanced in math as compared to Berkley fourth graders but the overall scores were still higher than the DFG and the state. Science scores were on par with district, DFG and state averages.

Fifth graders at Gibbs scored less than their peers in the district, DFG and state on the NJASK5 language arts exam. Ten percent more fifth grade students at Berkley scored advanced on the math exam than Gibbs students. 

Nearly 70 percent of Gibbs teachers have a bachelor's degree, with 27 percent having earned a master's degree and three percent have achieved a doctoral degree.

David E. Owens Middle School

Class size at the middle school was significantly higher than the state average. The average class size for an eighth grade classroom was 17 around the state but the middle school average 29.8 students per class.

More than seven percent of middle school students had an IEP requiring special services and support to address their disability. 

Nearly 63 percent of middle school students speak English as their primary language. Just under 11 percent of students speak Spanish as their primary language and a little more than 10 percent speak Tagalong. Other languages included Malayalam, Arabic, Korean and Turkish among others. Less than two percent of students were considered to have limited proficiency in English.

More than 74 percent of sixth grade students passed the NJASK6 language arts test. They outperformed their peers in DFG and state with 13 percent scoring advanced compared with seven percent in both of those groups. Sixth graders scored in par with their peers in the DFG and state in math.

Seventh grade students had a passing rate on par with their peers on the NJASK7 language arts test. Twenty-two percent scored advanced on language arts compared with 17 percent in the DFG and state. They scored lower than their peers on the math exam. 

NJASK8 language arts scored were on par with the DFG schools and slightly higher than the overall passing rate for the state. Math scores were lower than both the DFG and state averages with 66 percent of DEO students passing compared to 72 percent in the DFG and 68 in the state. More than 90 percent of eighth graders passed the NJASK8 science exam which was higher than the DFG and state averages.

Nearly 48 percent of faculty members at the middle school have a bachelor's degree with 50 percent having earned a master's degree and slightly more than two percent having earned doctoral degrees.

New Milford High School

The average class size at the high school also exceeds the state average with a school-wide average of 21.3 kids per classroom compared with a state average of 16.2 students per classroom.

Just under four percent of students at the high school had an IEP which required special services to support their identified disability.

Nearly 72 percent of students spoke English as their primary language with more than 10 percent speaking Spanish. Other languages spoken included Tagalong, Armenian, Turkish, Malayalam and Arabic among others. Less than one percent of students had limited proficiency in English.

More than 91 percent of students at the high school passed the HSPA language arts exam compared to 92 percent in the DFG and 88 percent in the state. Nearly 78 percent of students passed the HSPA math exam which was on par with students in the DFG compared to 75 percent of students in the state.

Sixty-eight percent of students took the SAT in the 2009-10 school year compared to 71 percent of students in the DFG and 66 percent of students in the state. The average math score was 507 for NMHS students compared with 514 in the DFG and 520 in the state.

The average verbal score for NMHS students was 482 compared with 494 in the DFG and 497 in the state. The average NMHS students scored 476 on the essay, with DFG peers scoring 494 and students around the state scoring 499.

The number of NMHS students participating in advanced placement courses and exams was above the state average. More than 21 percent of juniors and seniors participated compared with 19 percent statewide. Nearly all students who were enrolled in AP courses sat for the exams and 58 of those students scored a three or higher, earning them college credits.

More than 99 percent of NMHS students graduated on time which was higher than the state average of nearly 95 percent.Almost 53 percent of graduating seniors planned to head to four-year colleges and another 39.4 percent were heading to two-year colleges.

Nearly 42 percent of NMHS faculty members earned a bachelor's degree with more than 56 percent having achieved a master's degree and slightly less than two percent had earned a doctoral degree.