NJ Cancels Statewide Student Assessments Due To Coronavirus

NEW JERSEY — All statewide student assessments in New Jersey for 2020 have been cancelled as schools remain closed to prevent the further spread of new coronavirus, state officials announced.

Students will not be required to take the New Jersey Student Learning Assessments (NJSLA), ACCESS for ELLs, and the Dynamic Learning Maps (DLM) assessment, according to the New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE).

These cancellations will not prevent students from meeting their requirements to graduate, according to NJDOE.

New Jersey Coronavirus Updates: Don't miss local and statewide announcements about novel coronavirus precautions. Sign up for Patch alerts and daily newsletters.

The state will receive a waiver from the federal Department of Education due to the outbreak of the virus. The federal government is providing relief to all states that are unable to assess their students because they are not in school, providing relief from federally mandated testing, accountability, and reporting requirements for the 2019-20 school year.

In New Jersey, Gov. Phil Murphy called for all schools to close statewide and move to a remote learning plan on March 16. While Murphy said at the time that schools would be closed for two weeks, he recently said it would be closed longer.

When questioned in recent press conferences, he has said the decision has not yet been made on whether to use the remote learning plan for the rest of this school year. Read more here: NJ Coronavirus: Schools Will Close Statewide, 80 New Cases

“With students unable to attend school due to the COVID-19-related closures, it is not feasible to move forward with statewide testing,” NJDOE said in a statement. “We acknowledge that cancelling statewide assessments will impact various aspects of education, including educator evaluations and certification, and school and district accountability. We recognize educators, students, and families will have questions. We are working to mitigate any unintended consequences, and we will work through multiple channels to keep stakeholders fully informed of updated guidance and other changes.”

NJDOE continues to process portfolio appeals for the small percentage of current seniors who have not yet met their graduation assessment requirement.

The NJSLA will be available in the summer or fall for current high school freshmen, sophomores, and juniors — as well as middle school students taking high-school level courses — who want to use the result toward their graduation requirements.

Current juniors and sophomores also have access to the menu of alternate assessments, such as the SAT, etc., and the portfolio appeal process to complete their graduation assessment requirement.

These students are not required to take the NJSLA to access the menu of alternate assessments or the portfolio appeal process, according to NJDOE.