Test Scores Tick Up In Newark Schools; District Releases 2024 Data

NEWARK, NJ — Despite some recent challenges – including troublingly low reading scores – students in the Newark Public School District are gradually improving their performances on state tests, administrators say.

Last week, district administrators released data from the 2024 New Jersey Student Learning Assessments (NJSLA) at the Newark Board of Education meeting. The full presentation can be seen online here.

Rochanda Jackson, executive director of the Office of Policy, Planning, Evaluation and Testing, reported data in August from other 2024 assessments, including the New Jersey Graduation Proficiency Assessment (NJGPA).

The NJSLA are administered every spring, and measure how well students meet state learning standards in English Language Arts, for students in grades 3 through 9, mathematics for students in grades 3 through 8, and Grade 9 students taking Algebra 1, Algebra 2, or Geometry, and science, for students in grades 5, 8, and 11.

The NJGPA consists of English Language Arts and mathematics components that are administered to students in grade 11 for the purpose of meeting the state graduation assessment requirement.

What are the results? Things are trending up, school officials say:

• ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS – “In English Language Arts on the NJSLA and NJGPA assessments, students in seven of the eight grade levels tested showed increases in the percentage of students meeting or exceeding expectations from the year before.”
• MATH – “In mathematics on the NJSLA and NJGPA assessments, students in all eight grade levels tested showed increases in the number of students meeting or exceeding expectations from the year before, as did students who were tested in Algebra 1 and Geometry.”

This year’s gains suggest that the district may be starting to recover from the so-called “pandemic slide” that took place during the COVID-19 era. See Related: Study Says 'COVID Slide' Is Hurting New Jersey Students

“The trend is positive from last year to this year, and we have finally surpassed our pre-pandemic levels in English Language Arts in grade 9 and just 1.4 percent shy of doing the same in Algebra,” Board of Education President Hasani Council said.

• See Related: Popularity Of AP Exams Is Rising In Newark, School Officials Say

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