Sliding Grades and Proficiencies

The historical trend of Governor Livingston High schools Math proficiency scores shows a disturbing pattern, and Science also appears to be in troubled waters.

Many parents in the community are questioning how we got here. 

The short answer – one reason we are here is that measurement, for whatever reason and for the longest time, has been incorrectly viewed as an enemy of a healthy school system.  

Measurement is the enemy of bad decision-making, unaccountable programs, and poor leadership.  

Parents and students have no better ally in holding the District accountable for the quality product and services they expect from a District with a $60 million budget.

Here is the longer answer.

We are at 47% in Math and 42% in Science based on data from 2018-2019 academic year. The latest data from the NJ Dept of Education which is yet to be uploaded on Governor Livingston’s website shows GL at 47.6% proficiency in Math.

And yes, this matters, and I would question the motivations or thinking of anyone who argues that this number doesn’t matter. Any parent should. So should any student. “It doesn’t matter” is an embarrassing abdication of responsibility and a slap in the face to our community.

It is clear from the NJ DOE data that GL has had a math problem for a while now. We need the district leadership to acknowledge historically declining math scores. The priority must be to recognize the problem, create a plan to address it, and periodically review it to ensure our interventions are on track.

Instead, here we are with groups of parents speculating what the following year’s data might look like with fingers crossed, hoping that if it is better, it would be more than just a fluke.

Federal law requires us to be 80% proficient by 2030. Think about that.

We have eight years to go with no root cause analysis, no plan, and no goals. While the pandemic may have been an obstacle, our District did very little compared to other Districts to address learning loss. While some Districts were offering summer and after-school programming, our parents were battling with the District on a horribly planned reconfiguration, the mysteries behind how COVID-related dollars were spent and getting copies of the actual budget.

The district goals, which are also used for performance appraisal of the Superintendent presented at the September 22, 2022 meeting, would have been the perfect arena to announce any substantive measures being put in place, along with their timelines or milestones and goals. One would hope the historical data would have put more pressure on the District’s leadership, including the Superintendent, to address the situation.

I feel the pressure. I am concerned for our children. I want to do something.

Maybe the answer lies in our five-year strategic plan, yet the 5-year strategic plan and district goals have NO quantifiable, measurable metrics. I have asked multiple times to see supporting data behind presentations on student achievement embedded in our strategic plan.

It was stated at the March 10, 2022 board meeting that ‘all you have is a summary and NOT the actual strategic plan”, and that the strategic plan “is an 80-something page document” containing all the metrics related to student achievement and other variables.

Please refer to timestamp 1:27:50 https://youtu.be/QSUi3Etp-ME?t=5270

I requested to see the 80+page actual strategic plan mentioned at the March 10 board meeting with specific metrics. I was told that only the Superintendent and Assistant Superintendent have access to this plan. But was later told by Dr. Varley: “That was a mere exaggeration on my part. This is the only strategic plan we have. It has been longer…but we took items out that have been completed. You have all that we have”

So all we have is a 25-page summary strategic plan with NO metrics.

At the last board meeting on September 22, 2022, Dr.Foregger and I asked the Superintendent if we could add specific measurable goals to achieve this.

I have followed up with a request for a timeline to incorporate specific goals after the last board meeting. I also hope to attend the first strategic planning committee soon. Based on the historical NJ Dept of education data, we need a root cause analysis and a remediation plan tied to our distinct and Board goals.

We need a plan with:

1. Clear goals
2. Timelines for discussing the District’s findings in connection to the root cause
3. Specific interventions are based on evidenced practices 
4. Projected goals.

We need to hold our administration and the Board accountable for a plan and provide status updates monthly on action items to get to 80% by 2030.

I am willing to take a leaf from my project management experience and help define this plan.

We spend over 60 million dollars a year while our test scores and district rankings continue to slide. Our per pupil cost is over $24,000 – much more than what Millburn spends. We have become top-heavy and need to bring back the focus to academic achievement with a clear plan. 

As always these are my thoughts and opinions as an individual and do not represent the opinion of the Berkeley Heights Board of Education. Although I am a Berkeley Heights School Board member, I am not authorized to speak on behalf of the Board.