Sussex-Wantage school district meets most state targets

WANTAGE — The Wantage-Sussex School District has been mostly successful in reaching state targets for progress.

Superintendent Jeanne Apryasz presented the district's 2011-12 academic performance and the spring 2013 New Jersey Assessement of Skills and Knowledge test results to the Board of Education at the Wednesday, Dec. 18 meeting.

All schoools met their p;rogress targets for English and Language Arts with the exception of Sussex Middle School students, who did not meet their targets in English and Math. Also, Wantage students with disabilities did not meet their targets in English. All four schools met their student growth state targets in English and Math.

Progress targets for ELA and Math progress targets measure each school's average academic performance, while the student growth measurement tracks targets in English and Math.

Also, Wantage School and Sussex Middle school both had absentee percentages of 7 percent, above the state target of 7 percent. Apryasz said absentee letters go home when there is a chronic problem. Then parents come in for a conference with the principal. Before Apryasz was superintendent, the conference was not a standard practice.

The schools also emphasize a health and wellness hand washing campaign in order to prevent unnecessary sicknesses.

The board members discussed possible solutions to truancy problems from: the truant officer, the state police, home visits, the courts, withholding club and sports privileges, analyzing what causes the truancy, leaving a child back, and the court fines of $25 per day.

Apryasz said the district has used the truant officer more for residency issues than attendance.

None of the schools met the state target of 20 percent of students taking place in Algebra classes.

There was a long discussion of how to make Algebra more attractive to both parents and students, which included: challenging the students, communicating with parents about the benefit of algebra and involving them, marketing Algebra and even the enticement of giving the seventh- and eighth-grade algebra classes pizza on Fridays.

Board member Lisa A. Frisbie said there had to be more to get students excited about algebra with more of a reason than "just get ready for the AP Junior Math class."

Board Member Bob Maikis said kids need the skills, and the new Common Core Standards reinforce algebra concepts in earlier grades. Also, the district needs to “beef up expectations” because “students like a challenge.”

Apryasz covered more than 30 charts of data regarding Spring NJASK 2013 data for the third- through eighth-graders in the district.

The students were compared by grade to similar peer groups in three categories: General Education, Special Education, and all students.

The math data covered the third- through eighth-grade results, which were all lower than the state and peer districts, except for the sixth grade, class of 2015, which will graduate from high school in 2019.

"[The sixth grade] is a strong math group," Apryasz said.

Maikis wondered if it was the students’ functioning level or teaching that has room for improvement.

Apryasz said the number of students who took the Alternate Proficiency Assessment test doubled this year. nother performance report will come out in spring, possibly answering Maikis’s question.

Apryasz also explained that teachers use the cluster scores — a breakdown of results — to determine future goals.

Frisbie said when the district meets the goals of the state and/or district peer group level, the district has received a C. When the district is below the shared goals, that equals a D.

School board vice president Janice Phillips-Mezier said it could take three to five years to see the effects of the curriculum change on student performance, but members said they would like to see progress — even if it is small before three to five years.