>From the vormath site:
Look at the test scores.
In 2000, Travell was ranked 81st in the state for 4th graders.
In 2006, Travell was ranked (dropped) to 277.
In 2000, Orchard was ranked 47th in the state for 4th grader.
In 2006, Orchard was ranked 174.
Rankings were based upon the aggregate (total) of the advanced, proficient, and partial proficient NJAsk math scores for 4th graders. (Visit psk12.com to see scores from 2000 to now).
>Look at the Test Scores
37 thoughts on “>Look at the Test Scores”
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>PJ – Don’t print nonsense from Linda Moran or Frances…
>Evidently, per the agenda for the June 28 BOE meeting, Regina Botsford will be named interim superintendent.
>If what you call “nonsense” is the stats provided in this thread, then why don’t you do your homework and supply better stats. Instead of, from your anonymous perch, naming and maligning parents in our District?
>Why doesn’t that person visit psk12.com and pay th $20 and pull the stats as they seem fit?
I guess they prefer the rolled up aggregate from the school – where individual school stats are hidden – or more precisely — the lower school scores are hidden.
Or another way to look at it — if Travell scores were better — wouldnt the overall score of the district be even higher?
>If both Travell and Orchard use TERC, why is one score significantly higher than the other? Perhaps TERC is not the real issue.
Also, if this really is a math argument…why not compare the TERC scores with the scores of the elementary schools using the text book approach to teaching math? How does Orchard, a TERC school, look compared to Hawes and Willard?
I would love that data.
>2006 4th Grade Adv Prof % Ranking in State. Minimum students (15)
– 27th Willard
– 29th Ridge
– 34th Somerville
– 66th Hawes
– 162nd Orchard
– 343rd Travell
Star Ledger Report Ranking for Schools
But why compare test scores? Fact is unless the school releases its pilot plan and implementation plan and current usage of TERC plan – showing what teachers have received training (and how much), what curriculum items are taught using TERC materials, what curriculum items require other supplementation materials, and so forth, and actually get an accounting of parents that do tutoring, afterschooling, kumon, huntington learning center, score, the test results whether good or bad — have too many variables for the school district to wave as their banner of proof that TERC is wonderful.
Any use of test data to support TERC is disingenuous. Why? Because noone knows exactly how much of it is being used or not used and by whom. Unless with Regina at the helm, she holds a book burning day and all copies of Saxon, Houghton Mifflin, Addison Wesley – get tossed into the fire …
Which begs the true question — what the heck are they spending OUR TAXPAYER DOLLARS on?
Copying sheets?
Copy right infringement?
Manipulatives and calculators?
Good grief.
Solve the problem Regina — give CHOICE.
Hey if you have teachers that want TERC and parents that do – go for it — let them have it — enjoy.
But give to those that don’t the CHOICE OF Houghton Mifflin or Saxon or Addison Wesley or some other non-NSF reform standards based math.
We are rich enough a district to do it.
But are the administrators brave enough to let CHOICE play out.
>Who is the idiot that doesn’t know how to use a search engine and blames Linda and Frances for published data?
Either enlighten the discussion or go…you know what.
Stop torturing the rest of us with your personal vendettas.
>Who is the idiot that doesn’t know how to use a search engine and blames Linda and Frances for published data?…its the BOE and there attack the messanger campaign
>Dear 8:15 p.m. Sad to say, you are the one being nonsensical with your statement, “PJ – Don’t print nonsense from Linda Moran or Frances…” I commend both these women and the others who have come before the boe to respectfully voice their concerns with TERC and present data and letters from the math experts denouncing TERC.
If we want Ridgewood to remain a premier school district, then the administration needs to rethink the remedial math program, TERC. It’s like buying a $50,000 Mercedes that is a lemon and then not wanting to admit it is a lemon. TERC is a lemon.
Please 8:15 p.m. stop making inane comments that add nothing to the math issue. Educate yourself about TERC and then join in with an intelligent posting.
>TERC was introduced at Travell long before it was intro’d at Orchard, which might help to explain some of the discrepancies between the two schools.
At Travell, where TERC has been in place since the early 2000s, the scores are worst. Botsford joined the District in 2003 but TERC was already at Travell (Arilotta’s doing?).
TERC was brought into Orchard only a couple of years ago – by Botsford, who has risen from director in 2003 to assistant superintendent in 2006 to interim superintendent in 2007.
>This page on vormath shows NJASK4 math results for all 6 Ridgewood schools: https://vormath.info/WordPress1/?page_id=42
TERC schools:
Travell went from #81 in 2000 to #277 in 2006
Orchard went from #47 to #174
Non-TERC schools:
Hawes went from #58 to #49
Ridge went from #20 to #21
Willard went from #188 to #19 <-- YEAH!
Somerville went from #154 to #22 <-- YEAH!
>I could have told you that TERC was no good when my daughter was in fifth grade and it was introduced in Travell. She’s now going to the HS in September and got a D+ for the 4th quarter in Math…she was tutored this year!! To be fair, she hit a slump toward the end of the school year and probably didn’t get the extra help she needed when it came to the final; she probably also didn’t do ALL of her homework either. I like to think I’m a reasonable, relatively objective mother so I don’t put all the blame on the curriculum. However, she cried when her report card came home yesterday because she struggles so with Math. She can’t understand why she doesn’t get it. To me it’s not test scores, (although those are extremely disappointing)it’s the lack of confidence these children have been saddled with as guinea pigs for this curriculum. I’m not happy with her math grade but I’m heartbroken that she thinks she’s stupid. 🙁
>As an Orchard parent, I thought I’d ask my kids about their math experiences and do a little research myself. Overall, I’ve been pretty happy with their math education, but all of this got me wondering. First of all, my high schooler used TERC in fourth grade — way before Regina came to the district. My sixth grader used TERC in third, fourth and fifth grade. Both children have always scored well on tests; so I thought I’d look at the Orchard stats using the Star Ledger school record card ranking site. True, Orchard’s advanced proficiency ranking for 4th grade math in 2006 was 157th. Yet, their third grade ranking for the same year was 49th and their fifth grade ranking (the students who had three years of TERC) was 2nd best in the state. I then looked at the percentage of advanced proficient students in all the district’s elementary schools (Grades 3, 4 and 5) for 2006 and averaged the results by school. (Yes, it took a little bit of time and some math skills!) Orchard had 67% of its students scoring advanced proficient – the most of any school in the district. Seems to me like TERC is getting the job done!
>Seems to me like TERC is getting the job done!
Absolutely. Then TERC should be in ALL the schools and in all the classrooms. Wouldn’t our scores be even better?
No need to supplement if the 2nd version takes care of the lack of computation.
7:33pm I think you should raise that point to the BOE and we can stop with this nonsense with the math program. It would be in every school, so those parents at Travell would not be able to cry that the other schools do not have it.
And with Regina B. promoted, this can finally happen.
I think our teachers deserve this.
>To Orchard Parent 7:33pm
averaging is a nice way to HIDE the bad years … also, you average in the ONE year of 5th grade scores — now there’s good statistical work
so lets look at each year …
Grade 3: Adv Prof % 3rd Grade
05-06 Orchard 59.7% 51st
04-05 Orchard 45.1% 193rd
03-04 Orchard 70.6% 5th
Grade 4: Adv Prof %
05-06 Orchard 61.5% 162nd
04-05 Orchard 69.4% 11th
03-04 Orchard 44.6% 163rd
02-03 Orchard 56.0% 37th
Grade 5: Adv Prof
05-06 Orchard 80.4% 2nd
Just how much TERC is being used? Its not defined. Teachers do not have to submit a lesson plan – which would show on a classroom by classroom basis just how much TERC is being used in Orchard and for what content it covers. It would also show that there is probably more supplementation than use of the materials (which from a business perspective begs the question – so why do we even have it? So those teachers that dont understand math can finally learn it themselves – If its not being used FOR THE CHILDREN?)
What would be a good indicator of this program is the following:
– classroom by classroom accounting of how much TERC is used and assigned and for what
topics (lesson plans with homework assigned would show this)
– this information over the last 5 years
– the scores per classroom over the last 5 years
– all of the above for each grade
In other words, a real pilot plan documentation – but our district doesn’t have one, never made one, and doesn’t follow one.
Only then could either side use the test scores.
But lets be real … is that all that matters is that we can jump over the low bar set by the state of NJ NJASK standards?
At the end of the day, this comes down to CHOICE.
If you wish to side and believe and follow the evidence and opinion presented by K-12 EDUCATORS, then you should be given that CHOICE to attend those TERC classes.
If you wish to side and believe and follow the evidence and opinion presented by those NOT IN THE EDUCATIONAL K-12 SYSTEM (like that Stanford guy, and the Harvard guy, and the NYU guy, and all those 200 signaturees on the Open Letter, and also EDUCATORS too – yes, not all educators agree with REFORM math and constructivism and the NCTM standards), then you get the CHOICE of a classroom with Houghton Mifflin or Saxon …
Problem solved.
What are the educators waiting for in this district?
Too hard to implement – hog wash, its all meeting the same curriculum and all of the educators in the system (adminstration) have said the materials DONT MATTER.
CHOICE.
>The Lady above has a point. A very solid one indeed.
How about CHOICE?
What have we got to loose?
>Unfortunately CHOICE is not part of a progressive socialist agenda. We have a progressive socialist school board bent on limiting our rights as parents and taxpayers.
What does a progressive socialist do?
They first target the elite. If they can silence or (scare) them into compliance with their agenda, then the rest of the people will just go along.
I, for one, will never give in. These people are easy to fight. They are deathly afraid of anyone smarter then they are.
The math parents have shown themselves to be very smart and they will win, eventually.
This battle is not just about the math; it’s about whether or not we will continue to be ruled by dunces.
Well meaning dunces, but dunces just the same. This is not name calling. It is merely a fact, clearly stated and demonstrated by their reaction to comments from those, such as stanford and nyu professors with intellects far superior to their own.
>To 1:01pm:
“I, for one, will never give in. These people are easy to fight. They are deathly afraid of anyone smarter then they are.”
Mr Alvaro, you keep on proclaiming yourself smarter than your average rabbit. The fact is the town is tired of your hot air. You bring no credibility to the math issue. Let the moms fight their own battle. They do it quite well without you; you only hurt their cause. Your superiority complex is worthy of some psychoanalysis.
We, the voters, already decided who the dunce is. Claiming you are smarter than the entire Village of Ridgewood will get you 2 votes- yours and your wife’s. Well, maybe PJ’s…
This is no name calling either, just stating the obvious…
>Mr Alvaro, you keep on proclaiming yourself smarter than your average rabbit….sounds to me like the BOE and the vested interests in TERC are proclaiming it self smarter than the average bear as for me one look at the evidence is that TERC does not work at all ,it appears to be another educational scam to lower standards, raise taxes and hire more teachers ,something’s in life you just have to memories ,the ABC’s and your multiplication tables I didn’t like it either but I know how to add.
>And I am more than a little board with the continued effort to silence people, the more you do it the more people get suspicious. of your actions ,lets face it the schools are not what they used to be maybe its time to listen a little
>People with inferiority complexes should try to set them aside and debate the issues.
I agree with the blogger who said that the BOE are “dunces.”
Their record speaks to that admirably.
>Who needs television or books? We’ve got this here BLOG (Blowhards Long On Gas). There hasn’t been this much fun in Ridgewood since I don’t know when. Come winter time we can have our warm slippers on with our woolie pajamas, some popcorn, a hot toddy maybe, and roar our patoots off reading and responding to these BLOG entries. Isn’t America wonderful? Happy 4th!
>”Tired of this said…
To 1:01pm:
Mr Alvaro, you keep on proclaiming yourself smarter than your average rabbit.”
Unless there is another Mr. Alvaro in the Village that I don’t know about, you are mistaken Tired. I did not write, “I, for one, will never give in. These people are easy to fight. They are deathly afraid of anyone smarter then they are.”
Obviously, that opinion seems to be common place among the residents of Ridgewood.
Mr. Alvaro
>It seems a revolution is a foot.
The attempts to silence and intimidate folks is evidence that the King and his ministers are growing uncomfortable with the increasing influence of the free press (blogs).
>At the parade today the silence was palpable as the BOE crew drove by. No one clapped or even waved.
It seems their “majority” of supporters had something else to do today.
They should’t feel too bad, though. No one clapped for the village council either.
I guess Ridgewood is not happy with its government by default.
>You are so mistaken “tired of this said…” that Mr. Alvaro made those comments. Never ASSUME you know who is posting on this blog. Remember the saying, “To ASSUME only makes an “ASS” out of “U” and “ME.” To state the obvious, you lack credibility with your assumption as to the identity of the anonymous poster.
>Dear Anonymous 7:35 p.m. You did such a wonderful job of coming up with a most humorous meaning for BLOG [Blowhards Long on Gas]. Perhaps you can give us an equally entertaining and creative meaning for TERC. I await your response.
>I thought Republicans weren’t interested in supporting the public school system. Isn’t that why they prefer home-schooling and dump on teachers’ unions?
>Teachers Encouraging ‘Rithmetic with Calculators
>7:23 AM … AWESOME!!
>TERC:
Teachers
Encouraging
Remedial
Computation
>7:35 pm mentions a hot toddy … yummy … here’s a wonderful recipe from my great granny for a delicious hot toddy:
2 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp honey
2 Tbsp Jim Beam
Dump into a large mug with hot water. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
>I thought TERC stood for —
The Epitome of Rotten Crap
>How about:
Terrible
Examples of
Rote
Computations
>Test scores are at the VORMATH site
– you just have to page down past that newspaper clip quote from Professor Milgram that was in the Ridgewood News (On a side note, why do educators discount the opinions of professors? Professors are teachers too.)
https://vormath.info/WordPress1/?page_id=42
NJASK4:
Orchard – TERC
Year Adv. – Prof – Part – Rank
2000 60.4 – 30.2 – 09.4 – 47th
2006 61.5 – 32.7 – 05.8 – 174th
Travell – TERC
Year Adv. – Prof – Part – Rank
2000 44.8 – 51.7 – 03.4 – 81st
2006 53.8 – 41.5 – 06.0 – 277th
Hawes – NO TERC
Year Adv. – Prof – Part – Rank
2000 50.0 – 46.3 – 03.7 – 58th
2006 70.5 – 28.4 – 01.1 – 49th
Ridge – NO TERC
Year Adv. – Prof – Part – Rank
2000 59.1 – 39.4 – 01.5 – 20th
2006 77.1 – 21.7 – 01.2 – 21st
Willard – NO TERC
Year Adv. – Prof – Part – Rank
2000 42.9 – 44.0 – 13.1 – 188th
2006 77.6 – 21.2 – 01.2 – 19th
Somerville – NO TERC
Year Adv. – Prof – Part – Rank
2000 40.0 – 53.3 – 06.7 – 154th
2006 75.4 – 24.6 – 0.00 – 22nd
The non-TERC schools appear to have better numbers than the TERC schools.
Advanced Proficient scores from 2000 to 2006 all improved for NON TERC schools in a higher percentage.
Partially Proficient scores are much less for non TERC schools.
Ranking improved in the non TERC schools.
Our district average for advanced proficiency and our district’s overall state ranking would be incredible were it not for the TERC schools.
Think of how much MORE your house would be valued.
Think of how much MORE your return on your tax dollars for education you would be receiving.
Think of how much MORE you would be willing to give if Orchard and Travell were amongst the top 50 in the state for mathematics.
>too much sports, not enough academics.
too much country club, not enough consequences.
do THAT math.
>The school test data shows Orchard at the top. And I trust the school.
As a Ridge parent, why aren’t my kids getting that type of materials and my teachers getting that type of advanced training for math?