How Did Moorestown Schools Perform in State Report?

For the most part, Moorestown lived up to its reputation as one of the better school districts in the state in the School Performance Reports recently released by the Department of Education. 

All six of Moorestown's schools performed either "high" or "very high"—with the occasional "about average"—when compared to other schools across the state, as well as "peer" schools. 

(The data included in the report is for the 2011-12 school year.)

The formula for rating schools was altered for this report, with new scoring matrixes used, said Superintendent Brian Betze.

Also, the schools were placed in new peer groups in this year's report. In past years, Betze said, the peer grouping was based primarily on socioeconomics. For this year's report, peer schools are schools with similar grade levels that have students with similar demographic characteristics, such as the percentage of students qualifying for Free/Reduced Lunch, limited English proficiency programs or special education programs.

To Betze's mind, the reclassification contributed to some "anomalies, or misrepresented data" in the report. For example, Moorestown High School outperforms just 37 percent of schools in its peer group in the area of Academic Achievement (largely based on the school's performance on the High School Proficiency Assessment)—which is considered "lagging," according to the report.

"But we outscore our peers by nearly 100 points on composite SAT scores," said Betze. "It doesn't make sense. How can you be so good in one category, but only be ranked in the 37th percentile (in another)?"

The only other school found to be lagging in any area is William Allen Middle School, which underperformed in the area of Student Growth (based on the year-to-year performance of students on the NJ ASK) when compared to its peers—though its performance in that area was average when compared to the rest of the state.

Betze questioned other aspects of the report, including why all three of the district's elementary schools were in different peer groups.

He said the report would be discussed in more detail at the board of education's May 21 meeting. In the meantime, Betze said Moorestown, along with many other districts, has made clear its concerns with the new reporting system. 

And while there was plenty of encouraging data in the report—every school met its targets for No Child Left Behind; none of the schools are on "Improvement" status—the School Performance Report is just one tool for measuring success, Betze stressed.

"You need multiple measures to assess any school," he said. "To look at just these reports wouldn't give an accurate representation of the schools."

A few more highlights from the report:

• In terms of College and Career Readiness—which is based on participation in the SAT or PSAT, or AP courses—the high school outperformed 81 percent of schools statewide and 67 percent of peer schools.
• The Upper Elementary School was rated as high or very high in every area, except for Student Growth, where it was rated as average compared to schools statewide and in its peer group.
• The middle school's Academic Performance is considered very high compared to schools across the state, and high in its peer group.
• None of the elementary schools were lagging in any areas. 

Click here to view the full report for Baker Elementary School.

Click here to view the full report for Roberts Elementary School.

Click here to view the full report for South Valley Elementary School.

Click here to view the full report for the Upper Elementary School.

Click here to view the full report for the middle school.

Click here to view the full report for the high school.