Ridgewood Test Scores Above State Average, District Reports

Ridgewood students scored higher on standardized test scores than the state average, according to a presentation Monday night by school officials.

The scores also surpassed, in most grade levels, the average of 24 other school systems in Ridgewood's district factor group, a collection of demographically similar districts in the state.

Across the board in Ridgewood elementary schools, students scored higher than the state and it DFG average in language arts and math on the NJASK. More Ridgewood students scored “advanced proficient” on the assessments, and fewer were deemed “partially proficient” in every category.

The trend continued in middle school, with one exception among seventh grade students. Among that grade level, 28.1 percent were advanced proficient on language arts and 47.7 on math, compared to 34.1 and 55.6, respectively, in Ridgewood's DFG.

Those test scores still remained well above the state average for language arts (12.8 percent) and math (25.4 percent), and marked an improvement over scores in Ridgewood during the 2011-12 school year.

“We improved, but our district factor group improved more,” said Cheryl Best, the assistant superintendent for curriculum, assessment and instruction.

The same was true on the HSPA, administered to eleventh grade students. Scores in language arts and math showed an increase over the previous year, and were well above the state average, though remained just slightly under the DFG average.

The scores come as standardized tests gradually incorporate more common core curriculum, transitioning to the PARCC assessments that will fully take hold next school year.

According to Best, last year’s test questions were a mixture in format between the old and upcoming assessments, and next year will be mostly PARCC-style questions while still retaining the format of the NJASK.

Districts in some other states have seen a drop in test scores as they implement the common core, which has recently raised concerns over its increased use of the scores in teacher assessments.

Click here to see the full test score presentation from the Ridgewood school district.