At its Tuesday meeting, the Livingston Board of Education was presented with the district’s New Jersey Student Learning Assessment (NJSLA) scores and Harassment, Intimidation, and Bullying (HIB) Self-Assessment Report.
High Score on HIB Report
Lisa Capone-Steiger, assistant superintendent for equity, intervention, inclusion, and inspiration, explained that the HIB is a self-scored assessment that measures the district’s compliance with the Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights Act. Ultimately, all of the district’s scores are averaged on a scale of one through 78. Livingston Public Schools scored a 77.44 in the 2023-24 school year.
Student Learning Above Average
Natalie Topylko, director of curriculum and instruction-STEM/ testing, took the podium to lead a presentation on the district’s NJSLA scores In 2019, the NJSLA replaced the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) as the state’s standardized test. The PARCC had previously replaced the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA). English language arts (ELA) is tested in third through ninth grades; math is tested in third through eighth grades; and science is tested in fifth, eighth, and 11th grades.
The district continues to outpace the state’s averages in all grade levels in ELA, math, and science. While the district’s science scores overshadow the state’s averages, they still caused some question, as the data shows 65 percent of fifth graders, 42 percent of eighth graders, and 60 percent of juniors meeting or exceeding expectations in science. Topylko said the state is working to fine tune the test and effectively test some of these scientific concepts. “We continually aim to improve our practice, but as they are making changes, we are endeavoring to keep pace,” she said.
Additionally, the data for eighth grade math was discussed. In 2024, 44 percent of students met or exceeded expectations. While this is still higher than the state’s average of 20 percent, and an increase from the 2023 percentage of 30 percent, it still caused Board member Seth Cohen to “wonder what was being done to address the underlying issues.” Topylko assured him that the district administration is looking into how to best restructure the curriculum and put interventions into place to secure student success.
Renaissance
The universal screener Renaissance is being implemented in second through fifth grades. This program, which assesses and analyzes student performance in ELA and math, measures student performance three times a year, with results quickly available. Topylko described this skill sharing as the “ability to look at a particular score and figure out what is the genesis of that score.” She explained that teachers can use the data to “go back to the building blocks of that skill and remediate that building block so that next time they’re tested in that skill, they have a better chance at being successful.”
Personnel
The district accepted the resignation of Collins’ assistant business administrator Tatiana Gilbert. Her last day of employment will be December 5.
Conferences
The Board approved six teachers to attend the conference “Adaptive Schools: Developing Collaborative Teams” on October 7 through 9, and November 5 through 7. Danielle Rosenzweig, Bronawyn O’Leary, Mara Rubin, Jennifer Loniewski, Maura Tuite, and Ali Marzulla will attend the two part conference in Binghampton, New York.
Student Representative Report
In her report, student representative Darcy Bialik shared that members of LHS’ student government attended a student government summit in Caldwell. She also noted that Spirit Week is currently underway. “Spirit tends to diffuse from the high school down to the younger grades,” Bialik said.
The Board will next meet on Tuesday, October 29.
