NJ Test Scores Hit 7-Year Low: See How Your District Did

NEW JERSEY — Standardized-test scores hit a seven-year low when students last spring took the New Jersey Student Learning Assessments (NJSLA), according to data recently released.

But the impacts varied throughout the state, as educators and officials push to rebound from pandemic-linked learning loss.

And some of New Jersey's schools flourished. Eleven institutions sustained a 100 percent passing rate in at least one exam apiece. (See the schools below.)

Students didn't take the NJSLA in 2020 and 2021 because of COVID-19. The tests last spring were the first administered in three years. The statewide rate of "passing" scores fell in all three subject areas: English language arts (57.6 percent in 2019, 48.9 percent last spring), math (44 percent to 35.4 percent) and science (25.4 percent to 23.2 percent).

The New Jersey Department of Education released data on specific tests, schools, districts and student demographics.

The first two years of the pandemic marked a precarious time for education. While officials and many parents believe that COVID disruptions sparked learning loss, the dangers of the virus couldn't be ignored. An estimated 10.5 million children around the world were orphaned or lost a primary caregiver because of COVID, according to a study published Sept. 6 in JAMA Pediatrics. Education Week says at least 451 teachers in the U.S. died from the virus.

Although the pandemic hasn't ended, New Jersey schools returned to full-time, in-person learning to begin the 2021-22 school year — albeit with many districts temporarily going remote at points of the year, especially during last winter's omicron wave.

But 11 schools had 100 percent passing rates in at least one exam for at least one grade level last spring. They're listed below by school, district name, the school's county (or whether it's a charter school), the exam for which the school sustained a perfect passing rate (by grade and subject matter), and the number of students tested.

• Alpine Elementary School, Alpine School District, Bergen County: third-grade English language arts, 17 students.
• Avalon Elementary School, Avalon School District, Cape May County: seventh-grade English language arts, 12 students.
• Califon Public School, Califon Borough School District, Hunterdon County: sixth-grade English language arts, 11 students.
• Essex Fells Elementary School, Essex Fells School District, Essex County: fourth-grade English language arts, 31 students.
• The Gray Charter School, Gray Charter School, charter: seventh-grade English language arts, 18 students; seventh-grade math, 18 students.
• H.W. Mountz School, Spring Lake School District, Monmouth County: sixth-grade English language arts, 20 students; seventh-grade English language arts, 20 students.
• Infinity Institute, Jersey City Public Schools, Hudson County: eight-grade English language arts, 85 students.
• Monmouth Beach Elementary School, Monmouth Beach School District, Monmouth County: seventh-grade English language arts, 24 students.
• School 28, Paterson Public Schools, Passaic County: third-grade English language arts, 24 students; fourth-grade English language arts, 31 students; seventh-grade English language arts, 37 students; eighth-grade English language arts, 39 students; third-grade math, 24 students; fourth-grade math, 31 students; sixth-grade math, 40 students.
• Sara M. Gilmore Academy, Union City School District, Hudson County: sixth-grade English language arts, 47 students.
• Sea Girt Elementary School, Sea Girt Borough School District, Monmouth County: fifth-grade math, 10 students.

For information on how your district did, see the searchable database compiled by NJ Spotlight.

Here are some takeaways from New Jersey's recent standardized-test scores.

Declining Scores On Most Tests Administered

Of the 19 types of exams administered, New Jersey only improved in three subjects: geometry, algebra II and 11th-grade science. Statewide averages declined between 2019 and 2022 in every other NJSLA test, including all in English language arts.

The average rate of passing scores hit their lowest marks since 2015 in English and math. The science tests were first administered in 2019.

The data below shows the statewide rate of "passing" scores — a 4 (meeting expectations) or a 5 (exceeding expectations) — in 2019 and last spring:

English language arts

• third grade: 50 percent in 2019, 42 percent in 2022
• fourth grade: 57 percent in 2019, 49 percent in 2022
• fifth grade: 58 percent in 2019, 50 percent in 2022
• sixth grade: 56 percent in 2019, 48 percent in 2022
• seventh grade: 63 percent in 2019, 53 percent in 2022
• eighth grade: 63 percent in 2019, 51 percent in 2022
• ninth grade: 56 percent in 2019, 49 percent in 2022

Math

• third grade: 55 percent in 2019, 45 percent in 2022
• fourth grade: 51 percent in 2019, 39 percent in 2022
• fifth grade: 47 percent in 2019, 36 percent in 2022
• sixth grade: 41 percent in 2019, 31 percent in 2022
• seventh grade: 42 percent in 2019, 34 percent in 2022
• eighth grade: 29 percent in 2019, 15 percent in 2022
• algebra I: 43 percent in 2019, 35 percent in 2022
• geometry: 32 percent in 2019, 45 percent in 2022
• algebra II: 56 percent in 2019, 58 percent in 2022

Science

• fifth grade: 29 percent in 2019, 26 percent in 2022
• eighth grade: 20 percent in 2019, 16 percent in 2022
• 11th grade: 27 percent in 2019, 29 percent in 2022

Greater Impact On Different Demographics

While families across racial and ethnic lines have experienced hardships throughout the pandemic, COVID has taken a disproportionate toll on Black and Hispanic communities. NJSLA scores mirrored similar impacts.

The state education department's data features information on white, Black, Asian and Hispanic students. The rate of children who passed the English and math tests declined far more among Black and Hispanic students than white and Asian pupils. Hispanic and white students saw the sharpest declines in science.

The rate of passing scores regressed among each racial and ethnic population in all three subject matters, but rates among Asian students decreased the least.

Black and Hispanic students across the country were twice as likely to face pandemic obstacles than white children, according to a study from Michigan State University's Julian Samora Research Institute. Contributing factors included a higher probability of financial insecurity; family members more likely to have been "essential" workers, which increased the risks of death and poor health; and the digital divide.

In New Jersey, economically disadvantaged students experienced sharp declines across English, math and science. English-language learners' scores suffered overall in English and math. However, a higher rate passed the science exams last spring than in 2019.

The data below shows the rate at which specific demographics passed the NJSLA in 2019 versus 2022.

Asian students

• English: 83.3 percent in 2019, 78.8 percent in 2022
• Math: 77 percent in 2019, 71.7 percent in 2022
• Science: 53.8 percent in 2019, 53.1 percent in 2022

Black students

• English: 37.9 percent in 2019, 30.5 percent in 2022
• Math: 22.2 percent in 2019, 15 percent in 2022
• Science: 8.6 percent in 2019, 8.1 percent in 2022

Hispanic students

• English: 43.7 percent in 2019, 34.8 percent in 2022
• Math: 28 percent in 2019, 19.1 percent in 2022
• Science: 11.9 percent in 2019, 10.5 percent in 2022

White students

• English: 67.1 percent in 2019, 58.5 percent in 2022
• Math: 53.9 percent in 2019, 46 percent in 2022
• Science: 32.5 percent in 2019, 29.7 percent in 2022

Economically disadvantaged students

• English: 39.6 percent in 2019, 30.6 percent in 2022
• Math: 25.6 percent in 2019, 16.6 percent in 2022
• Science: 10 percent in 2019, 8.8 percent in 2022

English-language learners

• English: 39.6 percent in 2019, 30.6 percent in 2022
• Math: 24 percent in 2019, 15.2 percent in 2022
• Science: 7 percent in 2019, 10.7 percent in 2022