College Achieve Greater Asbury Park (CAPS) is garnering accolades for student academic growth. An article in today’s Asbury Park Press (paywalled) notes that the charter school, which serves students in Asbury and Neptune, “outshined most of its peers” on the 2022 state standardized assessments. 

There’s a reason for the school’s success and its popularity among local families: teachers and administrators implement best learning practices. Not that complicated! 

Let’s look at student reading proficiency. At Asbury Park Public Schools district, 11% of fourth-graders met or exceeded state benchmarks for future academic success. At CAPS, 38% did. 

It’s not demographics, the common canard of charter schools “creaming off” wealthier students. At Asbury Park’s Martin Luther King Jr. Upper Elementary School, 57% of students are economically-disadvantaged. At CAPS, 99% are. But here’s a difference: CAPS uses a literacy curriculum, MyView, that is infused with science of reading principles. 

The reading methods used by Asbury Park teachers aren’t available to the public But, given that the Murphy Administration’s Department of Education is one of only five state school systems in the country that hasn’t mandated this data-driven mode of instruction, it is likely there is little oversight. The result? Reading proficiency is stifled.

How about math? Thirty-seven percent of seventh-grade CAPS students met or exceeded proficiency levels in math. At Asbury Park district, the state replaces the percentage with an asterisk; this means it’s below 10 percent; the complete database says just 1.5 percent of seventh-graders met or exceeded expectations in math.

Why? CAPS emphasizes science and math, with the goal that all high school students take a minimum of three Advanced Placement courses. Asbury Park doesn’t.

“These kids are coming from very dire situations and what they are showing us, and proving to everyone, is that they can thrive and succeed under any conditions; pandemic, poverty, anything, they can just thrive and succeed,” said Jodi McInerney, CAPS Asbury Park’s executive director.

CAPS middle school teacher Lisa Murtha credits small-group tutoring embedded in the school day and identifying learning gaps. “This approach has proven to be a gamechanger for our scholars. When there’s an unwavering focus on high expectations and consistent support, they will power through every time,” Murtha said.

Parents are voting with their feet. Last year Asbury Park public schools spent $2.8 million on charter school tuition. Next year that goes up to $3.2 million. Six hundred students have left over the last six years, some to CAPS, some to Hope Academy charter school (also in Asbury), maybe some to Neptune.

(That may be a bargain for state taxpayers: CAPS gets two thousand dollars less per student per year than Asbury Park Public Schools.)

From the Asbury Park Press:

Superintendent of Asbury Park Public Schools Dr. RaShawn Adams told the Press this “still highlights the need for Asbury Park to continue the difficult but necessary work to improve academic outcomes for all students.”

“To do this, we must rigorously continue to improve and develop teacher capacity, understanding its correlation with student outcomes, our highest priority. Also, we aim to streamline our internal processes, which will make our district more efficient,” Adams said.

Maybe this year the school board will hold  Adams to his own goals and expectations.