Schools

Township BOE Reports Results and Focal Points for Testing

A presentation on school district goals and objectives highlighted Freehold Township's Board of Education meeting on Nov. 22, 2011.

Freehold Township School District Officials find new test preparation points to further improve student’s NJ ASK test scores.

During the Nov. 22 Freehold Township Board of Education meeting, Janet Creech, Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction, went over the Township’s testing results and set new goals and objectives for teachers and students. 

According to Creech, every year there has to be a report in a public forum about the previous year’s testing results. The report given last night at the Freehold Township Board of Education meeting showed that students are improving, and teachers have new focal points for preparing children for testing. 

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“Individual scores is where we can see the difference,” said Creech in reviewing overall data scores. Results of testing show each child’s personal answers, allowing teachers to see where specific students struggled on the test. 

Creech’s slideshow emphasized new focal points for testing which will allow teachers to better prepare students.

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According to the presentation, teachers this year will be focusing on subgroups, bubble kids (children that are on the cusp of moving up from one grading group to the next highest), different test preparation techniques and small group instruction.

Through monitoring subgroups, identifying bubble kids and using small group instruction, teachers will be able to target students with specific weaknesses and give them varied instruction to turn those weaknesses into strengths. 

Teachers are now using different test preparation techniques to review test taking strategies, focus on well developed questions (math exemplars), to use timed writing tasks and build reading stamina. By utilizing these techniques, students are being exposed to long passages and different types of reading material to be comfortable with any readings. To deal with timed writing sections, students are having more practice in class with writing prompts and are given at home reading assignments to stay focused. 

“Teachers are basing decisions on the data seen; a lot of good work is happening in the classroom,” said Creech about teachers testing preparation. “Teachers embrace ideas and each year they get stronger and stronger with a class size of 25.”

Freehold Township School’s new objective is to stay above proposed goals and to see growth in each student’s tests. Teachers are preparing students for testing in second grade, so it is not completely new to them once they reach third grade, where they begin testing. 

With early preparation and new focal points, teachers and School Board Officials hope to see students further excel on the yearly NJ ASK test.  


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