The New Jersey Department of Education released the School Performance Report data for the 2016-17 school year January 12.
The School Performance Reports contain a significant amount of data, going far beyond a school’s test scores to include information about the staff working in a school, student discipline rates, school-wide academic achievement and progress, demographics, school climate, chronic absenteeism, college and career readiness, industry-valued credentials and preschool and Kindergarten offerings.
This year that data is increased to also include a one page summary reports with easy to understand overviews of school and district performance. The Summary Reports are a dashboard of key indicators such as student progress, graduation rates and 2-year and 4-year college attendance. The NJDOE has also made available a guide to explain the different data points on the Summary Reports.
Over Two Dozen New Data Elements
The 2016-17 New Jersey School Performance Reports also contain the following new data elements:
- Updated school narratives with information across a variety of categories;
- Full and/or half day Pre-K and K reporting;
- Chronic Absenteeism by grade, subgroup, and progress toward statewide goals;
- In-school and out-of-school suspensions; and
- School start and end times.
Summative Rating
Federal law requires New Jersey to include a summative rating based on a formula that combines a few key measures (i.e., proficiency, student growth, graduation and chronic absenteeism). This summative rating is just one part of the overall performance of a school and it is used to determine which schools need the most intense support.
Visit www.state.nj.us/education/ESSA/ for more information.