District aims to raise high school test scores

ABERDEEN - Matawan-Aberdeen Regional School District Superintendent Richard O'Malley made his recommendation for a new high school principal with the school's standard test scores in mind.

Michelle Ruscavage was appointed to the post of principal at Matawan Regional High School by a unanimous vote at the May 22 Board of Education meeting." I am looking forward for Ms. Ruscavage to improve the academic opportunities in the high school and to bring a level of accountability where test scores are concerned," O'Malley said.

Ruscavage agrees and is ready to meet the challenge.

"I think we need to raise our standards and ask more from our kids," she said. "The math HSPA (High School Proficiency Assessment) scores really are an area of concern for me. This is something that Dr. O'Malley and I are working on with the help of the rest of the district."

The high school's 2006-07 New Jersey School Report Card HSPA results compiled by the New Jersey Department of Education caused some parents concern.

"I am a little worried about the 11thgrade scores, since my son is going in next year," Aberdeen resident Linda Rossi said at a Board of Education meeting this spring.

According to Pam Main, guidance coordinator at the high school, all students in 11th grade in public schools in New Jersey are required by law to take the HSPA tests in March of their junior year.

According to the report cards, Matawan Regional High School pupils achieved approximately 70 percent total proficiency in the mathematics portion of the test. Compared to the results from 2005-06, there was a 10 percent decrease in this area. Students' total proficiency in mathematics was at 80 percent in 2005-06.

According to Department of Education spokesman Richard Vespucci, a 10 percent decrease in test scores warrants a second look at the school's curriculum.

"If I saw any school with a doubledigit decrease in one year, it is necessary to look at the trend," Vespucci said. "It would be a priority for the district to stop it and turn it around."

Ruscavage added that strengthening the math curriculum in the entire district would help with the high school students' test scores.

"We want our middle school students to take higher-level math classes like an algebra course, so they are better prepared for pre-calculus and trigonometry," she said. "Hopefully, we can review our entire program curriculum to raise standards across the board."

Vespucci agreed with this approach.

"It could be a simple matter of curriculum alignment, and what Matawan is saying they're going to do with their math curriculum is a good thing," he said. "Introducing subject matter at the appropriate time and giving students the proper time before they are asked to respond on a test is good. It is good that the school district is looking at ways to address their low scores."

The high school students weighed in with approximately 70 percent total proficiency in science as well. Thirty percent of students scored partial proficiency on the science portion.

"Since the state is moving toward end-of-the-year subject testing, we are boosting our lab courses also," Ruscavage said. "Both biology and chemistry heavily involve a lab, so we are making the courses six-credit courses and requiring a double-lab period. Students will be allowed 92 minutes to do indepth lab work for their science courses."

According to Ruscavage, math and science are not the only areas the district wants to improve.

"We are most definitely working on our language arts literacy programs, and we are having the students do more writing on their own and generating text in class," she said. "We also want to push the arts and extracurricular activities because I do know that students who are more involved in school feel more comfortable here and will be more productive where test scores and learning are concerned."

Ruscavage said that the profile of the high school's population runs the gamut both socio-economically and academically.

"We have a very diverse population socio-economically," she said. "However, we have students who go on to Ivy League schools, students who are middle of the road and we have students who are academically challenged. We are here to nurture the whole student. We offer preparation not only for collegebound students, but also for students going into practical arts and so on.

"We want to prepare our students for great colleges so that they stay there, not just get accepted," Ruscavage said. "We need to prepare our students for the world outside of Matawan."

According to Board of Education President Patricia Demarest, Ruscavage started working in the district as an assistant principal at the Matawan-Aberdeen Middle School and then moved to the position of director of guidance at Matawan Regional High School, where she would later become interim principal. As principal, she succeeds Michael D'Anna who left the district.

"I was honored, and I felt that the school is going in the right direction," Ruscavage said of her appointment. "I am excited to implement new programs and new electives."