High-School Graduation Rates, Test Scores on Upswing in NJ
Annual report shows big achievement gaps remain for minority students
The annual report on New Jersey public-school test scores and graduation rates brought mostly good news yesterday, with the 2011-2012 numbers up overall for high schools, less so for the lower grades, and all with the expected cautions and caveats. It’s hard to draw a single conclusion from dozens of different grade-by-grade statistics released by the state each year, but much of the focus in the Christie administration’s presentation to the state Board of Education was on high-school graduation rates. This was the second year of new methodology intended to more accurately track how many students entering high school actually graduated. And, for all the worry that the change would send New Jersey’s historically highest-in-the-nation …
