Report: West Orange HS 'Lags in Comparison' in Two Categories Statewide

In recent state school performance reports issued by the Christie administration, West Orange High School ranked above average among peers but "lags in comparison" on two performance categories compared to other schools statewide. 

"I join the growing number of superintendents across the state to denounce both the results of this new ‘Report Card’ and the process and metric on which it is based," the West Orange's Interim Superintendent of Schools James O'Neill said.

The reports ranks the school on three different categories: academic achievement on Language Arts Literacy and Math sections of the New Jersey High School Proficiency Assessment, HSPA, college and career readiness which measures SAT, PSAT and participation in AP courses and graduation and post-secondary graduation and drop out rates.  

It also ranks schools against 30 peer schools based on free and reduced lunch, limited English proficiency programs or special education programs.

According to the report, the school didn't achieve target scores in only three indicators in one category, college and career readiness — a category which the school scored the highest percentile statewide and among its peers.

The three indicators were percentage of students scoring above 1,550 on SAT, percentage of students take at least one AP test and percentage of student scoring three or more on AP tests.

The school averaged 1,449 in SAT scores—473.6 in critical reading, 494 in mathematics and 481.2 in writing. Only 22 percent of student took at least one AP exam and 73 percent scored three or more on the AP tests. 

The new ranking system, comparing school with similar demographics, has caused controversy with school districts across the state. 

O'Neill said acting New Jersey Department of Education Commissioner Chris Cerf has created the recent ranks to justify the $30 million spent on testing with no concern for misinformation on the report. 

The following chart details the high school's rank:

"We do not welcome information that is difficult to interpret, characterized by misinformation and incorrect data," O'Neill said. "We look forward to the state being more eager to provide students with high-quality tests and districts with valid helpful feedback than expediting results regardless of their validity."

To view the full report card click here.