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Wayne Township reports stronger state-test results and details HIB, discipline totals
Summary
District presenters told the board that students made post-pandemic gains on N.J. Student Learning Assessments, highlighted 9th-grade ELA improvement and math algebra performance, and reported HIB and disciplinary counts for Jan. 1'June 30, 2024.
Wayne Township Public School District officials on Oct. 10 presented the district's 2023'24 state-assessment results and its statutorily required report on Harassment, Intimidation and Bullying (HIB) and disciplinary incidents.
A district presenter told the board the district —did really well— in several grade bands and that —we outperform the state at every grade level by a lot— in English language arts, singling out gains in ninth-grade ELA as a notable post-pandemic recovery. Dr. Glass, identified by presenters as an assistant principal at Wayne Hills High School who supports data analysis, co-presented subgroup and demographic slides that showed year-to-year gains for some Black and Hispanic student cohorts and improved outcomes for several special-program groups.
On disciplinary reporting for the Jan. 1'June 30, 2024 period, the district reported 30 incidents classified as violence (many of which the presenter said were threats), three incidents of vandalism, zero weapons offenses, 17 substance-abuse incidents, 155 educational removals under the code of conduct, and 45 confirmed HIB incidents out of 133 investigations. The presenter emphasized that changes in state reporting requirements mean some totals may appear higher than in prior years because the district is required to report more categories (for example, alleged and confirmed HIB investigations and removals for both general-education and special-education students).
Presenters described school-level remediation and supports used after incidents, including counseling, parent-staff conferences, schedule changes, adult monitoring, targeted remedial measures and districtwide initiatives aimed at prevention. The presenters noted that each school completed the annual HIB self-assessment (the Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights rubric) and that preliminary school rubric submissions and scores were posted with the meeting agenda.
On academics, presenters reviewed New Jersey Student Learning Assessment (NJSLA) results for grades 3'9. They called out strong performance on ELA and algebra results across grade bands and said math and English trends show steady gains since the pandemic-related dip. Presenters also flagged science results as more difficult to interpret because the science assessment and scoring changed in recent years; the district has requested scoring clarification from the test vendor to better understand year-to-year differences.
The presenters stressed that disaggregated school reports and full presentation materials would be posted online the following day and encouraged parents to consult individual student reports for specific information.
What happens next: the district will post the complete NJSLA and HIB reports online for public review and said it will follow up with additional scoring information from the testing vendor to clarify science results.
