School hopes extra effort will improve math scores

Superintendent says
he wants to go from a
good to a great school
BY SHERRY CONOHAN
Staff Writer

MONMOUTH BEACH — Faced with less than satisfactory scores on math in state tests two years ago, the Monmouth Beach School launched an all-out initiative to bring the numbers up.

School Superintendent Neil Frankenfield hopes the scores on the state Grade Eight Proficiency Assessment test (GEPA), administered to eighth-graders last month, and on the state Assessment of Skills and Knowledge test (ASK), given to fourth-graders, will reflect that effort.

Frankenfield said the school has rewritten the math curriculum to bring it more in line with the New Jersey core curriculum standards. In the summer of 2002, new math textbooks were purchased for kindergarten through fifth grade, and last summer new math textbooks were purchased for grades six through eight. Some textbooks had dated back to the 1980s, he noted.

"The new textbooks were part of raising expectations from kindergarten on," Frankenfield said. "This is our first full year of the new curriculum and new textbooks.

"The teachers are very excited and working hard," he added.

In 2001-02, only 54.3 percent of the eighth-grade students were found to be proficient or advanced proficient in math on the GEPA test (48.6 percent proficient and 5.7 percent advanced proficient), compared to 80.2 percent found to be proficient or advanced proficient in like school districts and 58.2 percent in the state as a whole. Some 45.7 percent of the Monmouth Beach students were found to be only partially proficient in the 2001-02 test.

The numbers for Monmouth Beach moved upward dramatically in 2002-03 when 74.3 percent of the eighth-grade students were found to be proficient or advanced proficient in math (54.3 percent proficient and 20 percent advanced proficient) and only 25.7 percent partially proficient.

By comparison, 78.4 percent of students in like school districts and 56.7 percent of students statewide were proficient or advanced proficient in the 2002-03 test.

"I’m hoping … for more gains this year," Frankenfield said, crossing his fingers on both hands.

Fourth-graders at the Monmouth Beach School have done better on the state tests, according to scores contained in the state-released report card on the district. On the Elementary School Proficiency Assessment test (ESPA) administered to fourth-graders in 2001-02, 84.6 percent were found to be proficient or advanced proficient in math (53.8 proficient and 30.8 advanced proficient) and only 15.4 percent were partially proficient. That compared to 86.9 percent proficient or advanced proficient in like districts and 68.5 percent proficient or advanced proficient statewide.

In 2002-03, when the name of the test changed to Assessment of Skills and Knowledge (ASK), 80.5 percent of fourth graders were found to be proficient or advanced proficient in math and 19.4 percent to be partially proficient. That compared to 85.1 percent proficient or advanced proficient in like districts and 68 percent proficient or advanced proficient statewide.

Frankenfield said that to assess math skills in the other grades, the Terra Nova test is given to first-, second-, third- and fifth-, sixth- and seventh-graders.

And to assess the progress being made by the eighth-grade students, not only does the school have the GEPA results, but it gathers the results of the placement tests administered by Shore Regional High School to incoming freshmen to see how they compare to the three other sending districts to the high school, and find out what weaknesses were revealed, according to the superintendent. He said the school also looks at the test results from students taking entrance exams for the county career academies.

Information gleaned from all those tests went into development of the new curriculum, he said.

In addition to the new textbooks, Frankenfield showed a stack of workbooks and practice test books which the students use to improve their math skills. He said the school schedule had been set up with the last class of the day being a flexible period in which students can go to band or, in sixth-, seventh- or eighth-grade, get extra assistance in math.

Part-time aides have been placed in the classrooms to work with students who have deficits in math, and voluntary study periods are held before and after school to prep for the GEPA, he said.

"Last year we had approximately 50 percent of the students" attending pre- and post-school sessions, Frankenfield said. "This year, we’ve had 90 percent."

The school also brought in Robert Wilson from the Global Institute for Maximizing Potential, who came in June and tested students in grades two to seven to show their strengths and weaknesses in math, according to Frankenfield.

He said that indicated the skills that needed to be taught.

"It helps the teacher plan the order of instruction prior to taking the test," he said.

Frankenfield gave credit to Carol Murray, math teacher for grades six through eight, and Dottie Mahoney, a special education teacher with a strong math background, for providing the extra help. He also credited Judy Canose, the librarian, and Jean Giordano, the volunteer coordinator of the parents who come into the school each day to help students with their homework.

"I feel we’re making tremendous progress," he said. "We’ve made real gains. I can’t say enough for what the teachers have done to improve the strengths of the program. Everyone is working very hard to improve the instruction and test scores. I’m looking forward to seeing the fruits of our labor," he said.

"This group of eighth-graders has been outstanding," he added, "in their effort to do well on this test. The kids have been wonderful … in understanding the need for extra help.

"It’s been a total team effort," he said.

Scores for the language arts literacy section of both the fourth-grade and eighth-grade tests for the past two years have been good for students at the Monmouth Beach School, with less than 10 percent found to be partially deficient. Less than 15 percent of the eighth-graders were found to be partially proficient in the science portion of their test.

Frankenfield said the school is working to improve in these areas as well, but the emphasis has been on math because of the poor test scores, and now everyone has great expectations.

"The question now is, how do we move from a very good school to a great school?" he said.

"And we really want to be a great school."