Howell High School's Performance Scores a Mixed Bag

Howell High School received high marks in one of three areas scored by the state Department of Education in the first round of a new school evaluation system.

NJ Schools Performance Report scores schools statewide in three major categories: Academic achievement, College & Career Readiness and Grauation & Post-secondary.

Howell High School’s academic achievement outperforms 87 percent of schools statewide and 79 percent of schools with similar demographics, report issued last week.

Academic achievement scores schools on students’ performance in language arts and math in standardized tests.

But the school lags significantly behind its peer schools in College & Career Readiness category – outperforming only 11 percent of those schools and just over par in schools statewide, at 52 percent.

In Monmouth County, Howell’s peer schools are Allentown and Middletown South high schools, the report says.

The College and Career Readiness category scores are calculated by participation in SAT or PSAT tests and in Advanced Placement courses, the report says.

Howell High comes in average to above average in the Graduation & Post Secondary category, which measures the drop out and graduation rates. Howell High  outperforms 66 percent of schools statewide but only 46 percent of its peer schools, the report says.

“While the evaluation of student outcome data is crucial for school improvement, we know that these data alone cannot capture the dozens of other essential elements of schools such as a positive school climate, participation in extracurricular programs and the development of non-cognitive skills,” said state Chief Performance Officer Bari Erlichson. “However, by focusing on college and career readiness and including meaningful comparisons for schools, we hope that these new reports will inform conversations at the local level about where schools are doing well and where they can continue to improve.”