Our Children/Our Schools
A newsletter about New Jersey school funding and reform
ELC's Web-based District Profiles Have Been Updated

The Education Law Center maintains a set of Abbott district profiles that include a wealth of up-to-date information on school and community context, preschool and K-12 student and teacher characteristics, and student performance. The profiles compare each district with the Abbott districts as a whole and the state of New Jersey on over 65 indicators. Each profile can be accessed separately or downloaded as a set of 31 from the website. ELC produced the profiles as part of its Abbott Indicators Project, initiated in 2003 to track educational progress and challenges and engage a full range of local and state stakeholders in pressing for needed improvements in the urban schools. In part the project seeks to compensate for the failure of the New Jersey Department of Education to document social and school conditions in the state's poorest, urban school districts or evaluate the impact of the programs and remedies ordered by the State Supreme Court to equalize educational opportunities for urban schoolchildren.

The district profiles draw their information from ELC's repository of over 200 data elements - some spanning as far back as 1994-97 - measuring social, economic and educational characteristics of schools, districts, and communities statewide. For more information about the data, contact Al Passarella, apassarella@edlawcenter.org.

Abbott by the Numbers Abbott Districts New Jersey
Community Context
Population 1,801,751 8,414,350
Female Head of Household Families with Children 17 & Under 19.6% 8.8%
Highest Educational Attainment of Adults 25 and Over    
Less than High School Diploma 35.1% 17.9%
High School Diploma or GED 30.0% 29.4%
Some College (including Associates Degree) 19.7% 22.9%
Bachelor's Degree 10.1% 18.8%
Graduate or Professional Degree 5.2% 11.0%
Labor Force Participation 59.2% 64.2%
Unemployment Rate 11.1% 5.8%
Median Household Income - $55,146
Population below Poverty Level 20.6% 8.5%
Population 17 and under below Poverty Level 27.5% 10.9%
Foreign-Born Population 27.9% 17.5%
Renter-Occupied Housing 65.5% 34.4%
Violent Crime Rate (per 1,000) 10.7 3.6
 
Characteristics of K-12 Students
K-12 Total Enrollment 281,277 1,336,296
Race/Ethnicity
African American 40.9% 16.9%
Latino(a) 43.7% 17.9%
White 12.4% 57.4%
Asian 2.8% 7.6%
Native American 0.2% 0.2%
Eligible for Free or Reduced-price Lunch 65.4% 26.1%
Limited English Proficiency (LEP) 13.4% 5.1%
Students with Disabilities (IEP) 13.4% 12.9%
Student Mobility Rate 18.9% 11.1%
 
K-12 Student Performance
Grade 4 Exam (ASK 4) Test Scores
Total Students Passing Language Arts Literacy Exam 60.8% 80.3%
General Education Students Passing Language Arts Literacy Exam 72.3% 87.6%
Total Students Passing Math Exam 65.8% 82.7%
General Education Students Passing Math Exam 75.9% 88.1%
Grade 8 Exam (GEPA) Test Scores    
Total Students Passing Language Arts Literacy Exam 47.6% 74.8%
General Education Students Passing Language Arts Literacy Exam 62.4% 85.9%
Total Students Passing Math Exam 35.0% 65.0%
General Education Students Passing Math Exam 46.7% 75.8%
Grade 11 Exam (HSPA) Test Scores    
Total Students Passing Language Arts Literacy Exam 59.5% 84.1%
General Education Students Passing Language Arts Literacy Exam 77.1% 92.7%
Total Students Passing Math Exam 47.7% 76.8%
General Education Students Passing Math Exam 62.5% 84.8%
Graduation Rate 83.7% 94.2%
Graduation Rate by Traditional Grade 11 Exam (HSPA) 53.1% 79.6%
Graduation Rate by Alternative Grade 11 Exam (SRA) 34.0% 12.3%
 
Characteristics of Preschool Students
Total Enrollment 39,808 N/A
3-Year- Old Enrollment 17,512 N/A
4-Year -Old Enrollment 22,296 N/A
Percentage Served of 3- and 4-Year Old Population 72.8% N/A

Prepared: May 8, 2007