Sussex-Wantage students need more support in math, tests reveal

Sussex-Wantage Regional School District students fared better in English and Language Arts than they did in math when they took the New Jersey StartStrong assessments in October.

District Director of Curriculum Kaleigh Themelakis said 526 students were tested, and that parents received reports of their children’s results.

Students in grades 4-7 ranged between 67 and 71 percent of their students needing “some or less support” in ELA, while the rest needed more. Eighth grade fared the best, with 83 percent needing some or less support.

The district’s students didn’t perform as well in math as students in grades 4, 7, and 8. The majority needed some or less support, ranging from 53 to 64 percent. However, most students in grades 5 and 6 needed more support.

Sixth-grade students were assessed in science, with about 60 percent needing some or less support.

‘One minor snapshot’

“This assessment is one minor snapshot of our student achievement,” Themelakis said. “Although this information will be helpful for curriculum planning and conversation between parents and educators, student success is highly individualized and should be measured by multiple indicators.”

Some of those measures include grades, work ethic and reports from teachers.

Themelakis said the district is using this data to implement intervention strategies, such as adding before- and after-school sessions to boost learning. The district also is reviewing its Tier 1-3 interventions, will provide additional professional development days to support instruction, and expand its Response To Intervention to include all students.

It is also expanding math-and-science-based professional learning opportunities, she said, and planning to allot Professional Learning Community Time to review the test results and any other student data.