The EIC Ticket Is Harming the Important Discussion We Need to Have on Academic Achievement

Arik Samson - 2024 Berkeley Heights BOE Candidate

Arik Samson - 2024 Berkeley Heights BOE CandidatePhoto byArik samson

I plan on responding to the question NJ21st provided to me in detail; however, a recent candidate statement from the EIC ticket compelled me to respond to what I felt was a spin on our District's academic health reminiscent of Dr. Varley.

The first point parents should understand is that the article from the EIC ticket is correct - that rankings need context- but the EIC article does not provide it.

The fact is we are near to last or last on every ranking.

From NJ21st:

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While arguing that “One clear drawback of using rankings is that they conceal the dynamic range of a comparison. They represent an average over multiple criteria, expressed as a percentile score. “, the article then goes on to focus on the inherently smaller variance in rankings versus the more meaningful spread driving the rankings - Proficiency. This is the context to our rankings:

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But the context does not stop here. You would imagine that our cost per Pupil would reflect our scores and our rankings, but they do not.

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The article then makes comparisons to national averages versus a more comparable sample.

Pretending an issue does not exist does not help our students or our District. 49% Proficiency in Science and 69% Proficiency in math deserves the respect of hard discussions - not spin.

The article also fails to credit Dr. Foregger for getting the District to finally address the issue in the very presentations it references. His advocacy along, with other BOE members, was a multi-year struggle.

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