Brick students well above state norm on test scores BY DANIELLE MEDINA Correspondent BRICK TOWNSHIP - Brick students surpassed state requirements on standardized tests and outperformed their peers in other districts, according to a report recently released by the Board of Education. District officials touted the results of the district's 2007 scores on the three state tests students are required to take - the New Jersey Assessment of Skills and Knowledge for Grades 3-7 (NJASK); Grade 8 Proficiency Assessment (GEPA); and High School Proficiency Assessment for Grade 11 (HSPA). "We do better than the state averages and we do very well by comparison to the 83 other districts with similar socioeconomic backgrounds," interim Superintendent Melindo A. Persi said at a Dec. 4 press conference. "It is both a testimony and a compliment to our staff." The results reported combine the scores of both general education students and special education students. The state requirement is reported as Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP), a percentage of students who pass the tests, given in March. "We exceed the state requirements not only this year, but for next year as well," Persi said. In third-grade language arts on the NJASK, 86.5 percent of Brick students passed the test, over the AYP of 75 percent for 2005-07 and 82 percent for 2008. Ninety percent of Brick third-graders passed the math portion on the NJASK, exceeding the AYP of 62 percent for 2005-07 and 73 percent for 2008. Fourth-grade passing rates in language arts and math were 79.6 percent and 85.1 percent, respectively. The AYP benchmarks for fourth grade are the same as third-grade NJASK. "We exceed the state requirements not only this year, but for next year as well," Persi said. Eighty-three percent of students passed the GEPA exam. The AYP benchmark for 2005-07 was 66 percent and is 76 percent for 2008. The math-passing rate was 70.8 percent, well above the 2005-07 and 2008 benchmarks of 49 percent and 62 percent, respectively. On the HSPA, 88.8 percent of students passed the language arts portion, while the AYP mandate was 79 percent for 2005-07 and 85 percent for 2008. The math-passing rate was 75.5 percent, which exceeded the 64 percent AYP mandate for 2005-07 and 74 percent mandate for 2008. Brick students surpassed their equals in all but two areas - third- and fourthgrade language arts for general education students in comparison to other demographically similar districts. In those two areas, the difference was less than one percent, school officials said. While the district is currently meeting AYP and, in most cases, exceeding it for the upcoming year, Assistant Superintendent Walter Hrycenko was concerned about the 100 percent proficiency goal that has been set for 2013. "In my opinion, it seems unrealistic that every child will be proficient by 2013," Hrycenko said. Persi said that he was pleased with the test results and the progress that the district is making. "We've really turned a corner here," Persi said. "Over a three-year period, our scores are increasing." Board President Brian DeLuca said that he was concerned about rumors and literature circulated in the last school board elections indicating that the district's test scores were on the decline. "That's just false," DeLuca said. "The numbers prove it."