>In response to “They have no empirical evidence to support their claims that CMP is a “dismal failure” in Ridgewood.”
Oh, but we do. Fortunately the Asbury Park Press makes all NJASK data for the last few years accessible to everyone. So let’s do our own Middle School Achievement Monitoring Study and examine the percent advanced proficient data for our middle school grades.
Laurie Goodman has pledged to provide parents with accurate information, and so I am sure she will confirm these numbers, even though the news ain’t good.
Over the last 4 years in the 3 middle school grades, only one of our 12 classes scored above the mean for J districts. Meanwhile top schools like West Windsor Plainsboro and Cranbury were above the mean in all 12 classes. Haddonfield was above the mean in 10 of the 12. One out of 12 isn’t very good for RPS, is it?
More bad news – if we compare each of our cohorts to their own performance when they were in elementary school, ALL of them are worse relative to the mean. Since Ridgewood was re-classified as a J district in 2005, ALL five fourth grade classes have been above the mean, and four out of five 3rd grade classes were above. You can verify for yourself that our 8th graders were 7.6 above the mean and our 7th graders were 7.3 above the mean back when they were in 4th grade. The underperformance of our middle school kids is very real and unmistakable. It’s uncanny that EVERY class that comes through declines so steeply after encountering CMP. My goodness, this is sad.
There’s more. In 2007 and 2008, our 7th graders’ scores were closer to the mean of the AB districts (Newark, etc.) than to the highest performing J districts. But yes, in 2009 our 7th graders actually scored closer to Cranbury than to Newark!!! Finally! Is this the “improvement” that Laurie is referring to?
So, is this the empirical evidence that you wanted? Are their enough data points for you to conclude that CMP is a dismal failure in Ridgewood? If not, there’s more – stay tuned.
And one last comment to the concerned parent who wrote “I want a good foundation for college prep.” You have every right, in fact an obligation, to insist on a math program that prepares your child for college. I’m sure you did not move to this town so that your kid could use Newark’s remedial math program.
