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Testing and Assessment

testing
testing
Patrick Bender
Supervisor of Testing and Assessment
[email protected]
201-369-2858
Department Overview
 
The testing and assessment department oversees the preparation, implementation, and reporting of all state assessments, including the New Jersey Student Learning Assessment (NJSLA), ACCESS for ELLs 2.0, the New Jersey Graduation Proficiency Assessment (NJGPA), and the PSAT/SAT suite of assessments. The department works with school administrators to disaggregate and analyze data to drive instruction and identify areas of need. In addition, the department also oversees the staff evaluation system and reporting of scores to the New Jersey Department of Education. 
Statewide Assessments
 

Assessment

Description

New Jersey Student Learning Assessment (NJSLA)

Testing Window: May 2024

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State and federal law require all public schools to test all students in grades 3 through 8 and high school. 

Visit nj.mypearsonsupport.com/ForParent for resources related to the test.


English Language Arts:

All students from grades 3 through 9 participate in ELA testing. The test consists of two units, 75 minutes each in grade 3 and 90 minutes each in grades 4 through 9.


Math:

All students in grades 3-8 participate in Math testing. Students in grades 9-12 will participate once in high school, depending on what course they are enrolled in. Grade-level tests consist of three 60-minute units, while high school-level tests consist of two 90-minute units.


Science:

All students in grades 5, 8, and 11 participate in Science testing. The Science tests for grades 5 and 8 consist of four units of 45 minutes each, and the grade 11 tests consist of four 60-minute units.

New Jersey Graduation Proficiency Assessment (NJGPA)

Testing Window: March 2024

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The statute requires the state graduation proficiency assessment to be

administered to all grade 11 students (N.J.S.A. 18A:7C 6).


 NJGPA is designed to measure the extent to which students are graduation ready in English Language Arts (ELA) and Mathematics. The ELA component is aligned with the grade 10 standards. The Mathematics component is aligned to Algebra I and Geometry standards. Graduation readiness is reported separately for each content component. 


Visit nj.mypearsonsupport.com/ForParent for resources related to the test.

ACCESS for ELLs 

Testing Window: February 2024


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School districts in New Jersey must administer the ACCESS for ELLs language proficiency assessment to all ELLs in grades K–12 or, as required, the Alternate ACCESS for ELLs in grades K–12. 


Students identified as ELLs must participate in the assessments even if their parents/guardians have refused services for them. ACCESS for ELLs is administered online in New Jersey, except for the Kindergarten and Alternate ACCESS assessments, which remain paper-based. 


The ACCESS for ELLs reports scores in the language domains of Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing. The overall category is a combination of all four language domain scores. It depends more on the Reading and Writing scores than on the Listening and Speaking scores.
High School Graduation Requirements
 
Statute requires the state graduation proficiency assessment to be administered to all grade 11 students (N.J.S.A. 18A:7C-6). The NJGPA is designed to measure the extent to which students are graduation ready in English Language Arts (ELA) and Mathematics. The ELA component is aligned to the grade 10 standards. The Mathematics component is aligned to Algebra I and Geometry standards. Graduation readiness is reported separately for each content component. On May 3, 2023, the State Board of Education approved the graduation ready cut score for the ELA and mathematics components of the NJGPA, as well as the menu of alternative assessments and aligned cut scores. The requirements in this section were adopted by the New Jersey State Board of Education on September 8, 2021 for the classes of 2023–2025.