What About The Mountainside Kids?
Comparison of Mountainside, Berkeley Heights and what Happens At Governor Livingston…. I decided to look at Mountainside as their residents have a vested interest in a Superintendent’s report concerning Governor Livingston. Given the different k-8 configurations between Berkeley Heights and Mountainside, in the interest of time, I decided to average out the Berkeley Heights numbers except for Science and...
Five More Snapshots of the BHPSNJ Decline
Comparisons to the other Six Schools in Our Area Based on the Superintendent’s assertion that Covid is one of the primary factors driving our declines, I decided to look at other Districts. I compared movement on proficiency across the Districts that I have been running comparisons over the past month on Budget and Ratings/Rankings. These are top-level, district-wide comparisons. The...
The Story of The BHPSNJ Decline in 5 Photos
Follow up to the 05/11/2023 BOE Meeting and Request by Dr. Foregger and Ms. Khanna that the Superintendent Address the Public’s Concerns Since the BOE Meeting on 05/11/2023, I mailed the BOE Several times on the data that appears to be driving the decline in ratings and rankings. If you recall, I emailed Dr. Varley last year with concerns about...
Follow Up to Ratings and Rankings From the 05/11/2023 Meeting – John’s Notes Part II, The Revenge
Because I just can’t let this shit go…. While I addressed many of Dr. Varley’s narratives surrounding our rankings decline based on a data set that she then claimed not to be aware of, I think it’s essential for the public to be aware of the extent of the BOE’s ignorance in this area. If you recall last year, Dr....
05/11/2023 BOE Meeting-Johns Notes
BOE Majority Refuses to Have Dr. Varley Explain our Rankings and Ratings Slide Dr. Foregger motioned to have Dr. Varley explain the decline in ratings and rankings, and Ms. Khanna seconded the motion. This has been discussed and parsed out for weeks by this site leading up to this meeting. The rest of the Board either abstained or voted no,...
Berkeley Heights Public School Rating & Ranking Drop- Closer Looks
It’s Not Just GL- The Youngest Learners in the Data Set Are Far Behind Surrounding Schools This week, the community member who has been looking through the rankings and ratings that we tied into the budget data took a closer look at ratings and rankings. We posted on one part of that analysis this week – demonstrating that Governor Livingston...
Berkeley Heights having the highest per-pupil cost with the lowest rankings makes Sense
It’s probably not the number of buildings, and we are definitely not spending money on textbooks and supplies. In one of the Budget Meetings, one BOE member (condescendingly) brushed off the concerns about our high pupil cost, implying that it was a function of the number of buildings the Berkeley Heights School District had. She also brought up Westfield as...
Our District Is In Trouble & It’s Up to Our Community to Fix It
Berkeley Heights school district is on a downward spiral and needs drastic change. How do we get there… Step 1 – we need to change the makeup of the board. This is where the community can make their voices heard. The BOE has members with validated ethics complaints against them, and most members don’t question or challenge the administration. The...
Ratings, Rankings and Dollars
Further Evidence that Berkeley Heights Needs to Re-Evaluate the Direction the District is Going A community member provided us with a table containing the following information: ” all districts are included within an approximate 10-mile radius of Berkeley Heights, excluding North Plainfield, Plainfield, and South Plainfield. Data takes the average of all school buildings in each public school district that...
BEYOND STANDARDIZED TESTS AND METRICS
GL hosted its curriculum night this past week to welcome and inform the current 8th-grade class. The presentation was impressive, and the leadership team highlighted the 27 AP courses, STEAM electives, and various clubs and activities with the slick video. It was a great event, and everyone who put it together deserves credit. What stayed with me after the presentation...
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