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By NANETTE LoBIONDO GALLOWAY
MARGATE District Superintendent Audrey Becker Oct. 12 provided the Board of Education and the public with an overview of student performance on state assessments administered last spring. It was the first assessment taken by students since 2019. The district is required to share the information with the public and notify parents in writing of their child's performance.
Reporting shows that Margate students performed better than other students in New Jersey in all grades and in all subject areas, including language arts, mathematics and science.
Students meeting or exceeding expectations in language arts outperformed students in other districts between 15-41.4% in different grade levels, with the highest performance in grades 6 and 7. In mathematics, Margate students outperformed the state averages by 26-37%. Algebra students scored 100% proficiency with every student performing at the highest levels, Becker said during a Power Point presentation. The average statewide for algebra students was 34.8%.
Teachers use the information contained in the assessment reports to adjust their teaching methods for each child.
English language arts showed student growth and is not as concerning as a slight drop in their past performance in mathematics, which Becker said was caused by a delay in learning during the pandemic.
Becker said 2022 statewide achievement levels in mathematics dropped 31% compared to scores in 2019, when the students were last tested.
We know the pandemic impacted them, Becker said. Our math is not as concerning as what we are seeing statewide. But we are concerned and watching it.
Becker said the district's small drop is not alarming.
It's not a surprise, it's the nature of the content. If a child misses a whole year of math instruction or are delayed, they are just not as prepared to move on and learn higher level math skills, she said. This is something we knew would be a concern with decreased time in school during the pandemic.
She said mathematics instruction will be adjusted for students working to catch up following the pandemic.
Becker said the improvements needed will be achieved by continuing with small class size and offering individual student support.
Although we cannot maintain these sizes indefinitely, we do want to support our students the best we can while they recover from the interruption in their learning, she said. Our kids need a lot of attention to get them back up to where they should be.
Language arts and mathematics interventions will continue with the LinkIt and IXL benchmarking programs, which track student achievement throughout the school year.
However, all students will need resiliency strategies to get them used to figuring out problems on their own, rather than depending on help from parents.
They lost some of the independence they had. Some children need a little encouragement to get that self-confidence back, Becker said.
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