Schools
BHPRSD Test Scores Up in 2011
Highland students passed the HSPA math section at a significantly higher rate than in 2010.
Black Horse Pike Regional School District (BHPRSD) schools experienced significant gains in math and finished a few points above the state average in language arts on state tests in 2011, according to data on the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA) released by the New Jersey Department of Education last week week.
The HSPA test assesses "proficiency" in language arts and math. New Jersey's high school students also now take a standardized biology test each spring.
Across the regional school district, 93.9 percent of students tested in 2011 scored as proficient (80.8) or advanced proficient (13.1) in language arts—4.3 points above the state average of 89.6 percent combined proficient and advanced proficient.
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"We're very proud of our language arts program, of what our students are doing in language arts," BHPRSD Assistant Superintendent Brian Repici, the district's director of curriculum and instruction, said on Tuesday.
In math, Highland and Triton fell just below the state average (75.2), coming in at 74.5 and 74.2, respectively. Timber Creek finished just above the state average, at 75.5 percent testing as proficient or advanced proficient.
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But gains were made at all three schools in math from 2010 to 2011, with the most significant improvement taking place at Highland.
In 2011, 74.5 percent of Highland students scored as proficient (59.3) or advanced proficient (15.2) in math, up from a combined total of 58.3 percent in 2010.
"That's a pretty significant jump. We're very pleased with that," Repici said.
At Timber Creek and Triton, the percentage of students passing the HSPA math section increased by 6.5 and 2.2, respectively, from 2010 to 2011.
Repici noted BHPRSD had made a concerted effort to align its curriculum with sending K-8 districts Bellmawr, Gloucester Township and Runnemede so students entering Highland, Timber Creek and Triton as freshmen aren't in a position where they have to learn material they should already know.
With gains made in both language arts and math from 2010 to 2011, Repici noted the district's focus is now on both maintaining that momentum and increasing the percentage of students testing as advanced proficient.
He pointed to the district's "Read 180" program, now in its sixth year, as one example of how the local educators intend to achieve those goals.
The program, which is offered to incoming freshmen who tested as partially proficient, or failing, in the language arts section of the Assessment of Skills and Knowledge test in eighth grade, has produced tangible results. Repici noted 78 percent of "Read 180" students passed the HSPA's language arts section in 2011.
The state's averages inched forward in three of four HSPA categories in 2011, as shown in the chart below:
NJ’s 2010 Proficient or Advanced Proficient
NJ’s 2011 Proficient or Advanced Proficient
ASK 3-8 Math
73.1
75.5
ASK 3-8 Lang. Arts
66.6
66.5
HSPA Math
74.1
75.2
HSPA Lang. Arts
87.1
89.6
(Editor's note: Check out this article about Gloucester Township Public Schools' 2011 standardized test results: Township K-8 District's Test Scores Stable.)
Results are divided into three categories: partially proficient, proficient and advanced proficient. In layman's terms, students testing as proficient or advanced proficient passed the exam, while students testing as partially proficient failed the test.
Students achieving a score of 200 are deemed proficient, while students achieving a score of 250 or greater are deemed advanced proficient.
The use of standardized tests to compare schools and districts has been controversial because so many variables affect results, including gender, ethnicity, native languages and socio-economic status. But whether they are popular or not, the comparisons have become an unmovable part of the nation's education system.
As stated at the top of this article, BHPRSD students generally fared well when compared to state averages, particularly in math, and saw some increases and some decreases when compared to its own scores from 2010. Click here to see full reports from the state. A summary of BHPRSD results are in the following charts:
District
2011 HSPA
Partially Proficient
Proficient
Advanced Proficient
Lang. Arts 2011
6.1
80.8
13.1
Lang. Arts 2010
10.9
78.5
10.6
Math 2011
25.3
59.2
15.5
Math 2010
32.6
55.2
12.2
State Avg. Lang. Arts 2011
10.5
68.8
20.8
State Avg. Math 2011
24.8
49.9
25.3
District
2011 Biology Competency
Partially Proficient
Proficient
Advanced Proficient
2011
45.9
43.5
10.6
2010
51.8
42
6.3
State Avg. 2011
42.7
38
19.3
School 2011 HSPA
Lang. Arts Partially Proficient (2010)
Lang. Arts Proficient (2010)
Lang. Arts Advanced Proficient (2010)
Math Partially Proficient (2010)
Math Proficient (2010)
Math Advanced Proficient (2010)
Highland
4.9 (10.6)
82.5 (82.1)
12.5 (7.3)
25.5 (41.7)
59.3 (51)
15.2 (7.3)
Timber Creek
5.9 (10.5)
81 (76.6)
13.1 (12.9)
24.6 (31.1)
60.7 (54.5)
14.8 (14.5)
Triton
7. 1 (11.5)
79.4 (77.5)
13.5 (11)
25.9 (27.1)
57.8 (59.1)
16.4 (13.8)
School
2011 Biology Competency
Partially Proficient (2010)
Proficient (2010)
Advanced Proficient
Highland
47.5 (54.7)
39.4 (37)
13 (8.3)
Timber Creek
46.1 (49)
41.4 (45.9)
12.5 (5.1)
Triton
44.7 (52.5)
48.1 (41.5)
7.2 (6)
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