N.J. school report card results show high failure rates for middle schoolers

Middle school this year who took a much harder state test this year students saw their test scores fall dramatically. Above 40% of 5th and 6th graders failed the language arts section of the test and almost a quarter of them failed the math section. 7th graders who were thought to have taken a much harder test than previous years had lower numbers of failures. The large failure rate for 5th and 6th graders is linked to last years "cut scores" scores a student needs to prove his academic level. If the cut score had not been lowered it would be likely that the grades for 6th and 7th graders would have increased while the grades for 5th graders would have declined slightly. Education commissioner Lucille Davy has stated "the change in scores is part of a conscious effort to identify middle school students who may need a little more help preparing for high school. I believe that it is each individual district's responsibility to prepare middle school students for high school not the state's. I also believe the test may not accurately tell you whether or not additional help is needed. One example of this is when a student guesses the answers correct on the test, since most of a state test is multiple choice this is probable.

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