New Mat-Ab administrator will focus on curriculum Assistant sup’t. brings testing expertise to position By alison granito Staff Writer The Matawan-Aberdeen Regional School District will have a second assistant superintendent when school opens in September. At last week’s Board of Education meeting, board members voted unanimously to appoint Robert J. Rogers to the post of assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction. Rogers is leaving his post as director of curriculum, instruction and testing in neighboring Hazlet School District. Before his three-year stint in Hazlet, Rogers worked for nine years as the supervisor of math and technology in the Marlboro School District. "What impressed us about Mr. Rogers is that he is someone that is going to be able to hit the ground running in regard to our curriculum and testing program," Schools Superintendent Michael Klavon remarked at the meeting. Klavon told the board the administration had been impressed during the interview process by Rogers’ thorough research of the district’s past performance on standardized tests. "He really did his homework," said Klavon. According to Klavon, the position of assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction has been around in the district under several different names for years. However, Klavon said that budgetary constraints prompted the district to use a part-time consultant for the position last year, but that enough money opened up in the budget to reinstate the position this year. According to Klavon, Rogers will bring needed expertise, particularly in the area of standardized testing, into the district. "Without a doubt, improving our standardized test scores is something that we intend to focus on," said Klavon. He noted that although test scores for the district were above state averages, in some instances Matawan-Aberdeen did not perform as well as other schools in its district factor group. The district factor group is a method used by the state department of education to compare school districts around the state to other districts with a similar socioeconomic make up. "In some cases we’re just below, and in others we’re just above," Klavon explained, noting that the intention is to bring the entire district in line with its district factor group on the standardized tests given at both the fourth-grade, eighth-grade and high school levels.