Howell Middle Schools Receive Mixed Grades In New Reports

The three Howell Township middle schools received a mixed bag of results in the first round of a new statewide school evaluation system.

The state Department of Education NJ Schools Performance Report was released for each of the schools across the state last week. The evaluation scores middle schools in three major categories: Academic Achievement, College & Career Readiness and Student Growth.

Academic Achievement scores are tabulated from the results of students’ performance in language and mathematics standardized tests. College & Career Readiness scores are calculated in middle schools by measuring how many students are enrolled in Algebra I in either 7th or 8th grade as well as how many pupils are chronically absent. The Student Growth scores measure students’ performance on standardized test over a period of years, the report says.

The reports also weigh how schools performed in each category in two ways: how individual schools scored in relation to the state average, and how they did in comparison to a selection of about 30 “peer’’ schools – schools around the state that serve a similar demographic.

“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,” said Bari Erlichson, chief performance officer at the state DOE.

In Howell, township middle schools – Memorial, North and South – each had strengths and weaknesses, according to the results.

Memorial Middle School was ranked about average in terms of Academic Performance, outperforming 57 percent of schools statewide. But it lags behind its peer schools, outperforming just 35 percent of those schools.

Memorial’s peer schools group includes Monmouth County schools such as Hazlet Middle School and Bayshore and Thorne middle schools in Middletown, the report says.

Memorial was a solid average in terms of its College & Career Readiness, coming in at the 50th percentile when compare to schools statewide. It fared slightly better in its peer group, outperforming 57 percent of those schools, the report says.

Memorial also lags in comparison to schools statewide in Student Growth, outperforming just 23 percent of schools. It severely lags behind its peer group, outperforming only 18 percent of them, the report says.

Middle School North fared better in most categories, the report says.

North outperformed 71 percent of school statewide and 65 percent of its peer group in Academic Achievement. In College & Career Readiness, the school scored in the 54th percentile of schools statewide and 41st percentile in its peer group, which includes Monmouth County schools Tinton Falls Middle School and West Long Branch’s Frank Antonides Middle School, the report says.

In Student Growth, North ranked in the 34th percentile of schools statewide and the 18th percentile of its peer group, the report says.

Howell Middle School South was the high performer of the bunch, according to the report.

South scored in the 76th percentile of schools statewide and 81st percentile of its peer group in Academic Achievement. In College & Career Readiness, South outperformed 56 percent of schools statewide and 58 percent of its peer group, the report says.

But in Student Growth, South outperformed just 49 percent of schools statewide and 46 percent of its peer group, which includes Monmouth County schools such as Bayshore and Thorne middle schools in Middletown.