Hello Everyone,
Since I graduated from high school in Europe, I have decided to compare 2 high schools based on their geographical location - both located in Bergen County and just under 3 miles apart - Fort Lee and Cliffside Park high schools. I was particularly interested in the Fort Lee HS because it's in the walking distance from where we live and, quite possibly, my daughter will be attending it in the future. Before settling down in Fort Lee, we looked at neighboring towns and compared costs of living, taxes, demographic data, and, of course, the schools. Fort Lee high school outperformed others, according to different sources, and the report cards I compared today clearly support that...
What caught my attention right away was the data in language diversity, subject proficiency and SAT scores. Cliffside Park's LEP (Limited English Proficiency) is twice as high as in Fort Lee high school (8% vs. 4%), and on the language diversity, English language is spoken in more Fort Lee households (54.4%) than in Cliffside Park's (38.8%).
Taking the language diversity into consideration, it's not surprising that in Language Arts assessment, Fort Lee HS's advanced proficiency is at 19%, while Cliffside Park's - at 6%, and that 6% falls way below the state's 18.7% advanced proficiency. In Math, Fort Lee HS's advanced proficiency is at 35.5% (!), comparing to Cliffside Park's 14.7%. When comparing SAT scores, Fort Lee HS scores higher across the board in all subjects, whether you compare it to the state's averages, or, to Cliffside Park HS's scores.
When you look at Math SAT scores, for example, Fort Lee HS's average score is 565, while Cliffside Park's - 474 (state's average - 520). In Verbal/Essay, Fort Lee HS scores 514/526, while Cliffside Park HS scores 449/444.
And then I found something interesting: only 38% of Fort Lee HS's teachers have Master's Degree, but in Cliffside Park HS - 51%(!) of teachers have Master's Degree. And the student/faculty ratio is lower at Cliffside Park HS. So, it makes me wonder, how relevant is the instructional/teacher quality for high school education...Oh, and by the way, Cliffside Park HS has more computers...
Thanks for your comparision of these two schools Evelina. Well done! I know of both these towns and here about Cliffside Park often from my friend and former coworker, the guy pictured on my blog. He used to live in Cliffside Park and one of his daughters went to school there 20 years ago. I am surprised to learn how few students speak English at home! I had no idea. My perception of the town was more white, middle to upper middle class. It was also interesting that the teachers in Cliffside Park are more likely to have their Masters.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that you are pleased with the choice you made and that the data supports your decision and what you're observing first hand. Very interesting!
Evelina,
ReplyDeleteI know both of these towns as well, as Bergen County borders Hudson County. I must admit I was under the same perception as Ms. Schmidt that Cliffside Park was more white, middle to upper middle class. On the contrary, I would have thought Cliffside Park would have a higher rate of English spoken at home than Fort Lee. However, coming from an area where the Hispanic population is by far the majority, I'm still surprised by BOTH of the town's numbers.
Additionally, knowing this information explains both town's verbal test scores. The fact that Cliffside Park's Language Arts assessment and verbal SAT scores are so much lower than Fort Lee has a direct correlation with that fact that a language other than English is spoken in so many homes. Not having English being reinforced and used on a daily basis at home can severely and obviously have a large effect. Thanks for the info!