More than 90% of Paterson non-charter high school students failed state math test in 2023
PATERSON — All six regular high schools run by the Paterson Board of Education had more than 90% of their students fail the state’s standardized math tests in 2023, according to data released last week.
The city’s elementary schools did somewhat better than that. Eleven of Paterson’s 30 elementary schools had math failure rates that were higher than 90% last year, according to the New Jersey Education Department's performance reports.
“Those numbers show that we are in a crisis, and we need to be looking for strategies to pull those rates up,” said Rosie Grant, executive director of the Paterson Education Fund, a nonprofit advocacy group.
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Districtwide, Paterson had 24.1% of its students meet proficiency levels — or passing grades — in language arts, and 12.3% met proficiency in math. The state averages were 51.3% in language arts and 38.2% in math.
“Those numbers are not acceptable,” said school board president Manny Martinez. “There’s no way those numbers reflect what anybody wants for our district.”
The low test scores have been a persistent problem in Paterson for many years, one that continued during the three decades of state operation of city schools and has carried over now that the local Board of Education regained control.
Four of the five charter schools that operate in Paterson also had scores lower than the state averages. But the charters faired better than the schools run by the Paterson Board of Education.
One charter, College Achieve, surpassed the state average for passing grades in language arts, with a 61.3% proficiency rate. But College Achieve fell below the state average in math, with a 27.7% passing rate.
Paterson’s Gifted and Talented program continued its success as the city's main academic success story. The program at School 28, which attracts most of the city’s best young students, achieved impressive results with 97.8% of its students passing language arts and 96.2% in math.
Paterson’s Norman S. Weir School — another program that draws students citywide as opposed to the neighborhood schools — came close to reaching the state averages, with 49% of its pupils passing language arts and 35.7% proficient in math.
Half of elementary schools reached their 'student growth' goals
In releasing the school-by-school reports, state education officials last week emphasized the importance of measuring improvement in student performance.
“Our educators are particularly interested in the student growth data because when focusing on academic growth, rather than solely test scores, we get a better understanding of how well our students are progressing and opportunities for improvement,” said Kevin Dehmer, the state's acting commissioner of education.
About half of Paterson’s elementary schools reached their “student growth” goals in 2023, the performance reports showed. Most of the schools that failed to reach their growth targets are in Paterson’s 1st, 4th, and 5th wards — sections of the city with the highest levels of poverty.
The statistics released by the state were for tests taken in the spring of 2023, under Paterson’s former superintendent of schools Eileen Shafer, who retired last summer. The new superintendent, Laurie Newell, has said improving the test scores is one of her top goals. Newell did not immediately respond to questions about the statistics in the state performance reports.
Expecting improvements under new superintendant
Martinez said the school board expects Newell to make improvements.
“It’s absolutely her responsibility to turn this thing around,” said Martinez. “She doesn’t get a pass on this.”
Grant, the education advocate, said Newell’s controversial “right size” initiative seems like a strong step toward helping Paterson’s struggling students, considering the district has more than 150 vacant teaching positions. Under the superintendent’s right size plan, teachers were shifted from schools with small class sizes to places where students have been taught by substitutes.
“There are kids in some of those schools who have gone the entire year without a permanent teacher,” Grant said.
School board vice president Kenneth Simmons said Paterson students were particularly impacted by the lengthy COVID-19 shutdown of school buildings.
“I hate to use the pandemic as an excuse, but those kids weren’t in a school for almost two years,” Simmons said.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: 90% of Paterson non-charter high school students failed state math test
