PRINCETON, NJ — Princeton High School juniors outperformed the state on New Jersey's new graduation proficiency test, but results showed persistent gaps for Black and Hispanic students, students in special education and multilingual learners, district officials said.
About 89 percent of Princeton students scored graduation-ready on the New Jersey Graduation Proficiency Assessment, known as the NJGPA, in spring 2026, Kimberly Tew. Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction told the Board of Education during their last meeting.
That includes 91.1 percent in English language arts and 86.9% in math. Statewide, almost 76% of students met or exceeded expectations in English language arts, according to the district's presentation.
"The overall growth is very positive for the district," Tew said. "Our cohort in the spring did better than previous cohorts."
This was the first year the state gave an adaptive version of the NJGPA, so the district is treating the results as a new baseline, Tew said. In an adaptive test, students who answer correctly get harder questions, while those who answer incorrectly get easier ones.
Because it's a different test, comparisons to past years come with an asterisk, [PRESENTER] said. With that caveat, the combined graduation-ready rate rose from 87.9% last year to 89% this year. Math proficiency climbed 3.2 percentage points, while English language arts dipped about 1 point, from 92.1% to 91.1%.
Going forward, the district will measure growth starting with the 2025-26 school year rather than looking further back, Tew said.
The test is a state graduation requirement. Every student must attempt it, which is why participation is high, Tew said.
Only questions at a student's grade level count toward the score, Tew said. That means score reports won't tell parents whether their child is working above or below grade level.
"It's not going to say your kid is tested as a sixth grader, and they're on an eighth grade math level," Tew said.
A board member asked where the information from off-grade-level questions goes. Tew said the district hasn't gotten an answer from the state.
"Every time I asked our county rep, there's no answer," Tew said, adding that there has been "a lack of transparency" from the state about how the test works.
She said the state also changed its scoring. Scores once topped out at 850, but now a student in grade 8 must score 1423 to exceed expectations.
Tew said she plans to raise questions at a county curriculum meeting at The College of New Jersey and at a state technical assistance session.
Female students outperformed male students in both subjects, by about 4 percentage points in English language arts, according to the presentation.
"Opportunity gaps remain for Black and Hispanic students, particularly in math," Tew said. "This is not what we want to see."
She noted that those groups are small: 21 Black students and 46 Hispanic students took the test. Both groups did better in English language arts than in math, though Hispanic students still trailed, she said.
Among student programs, 96 percent of general education students and 96% of students with 504 plans passed. That dropped to 59 percent for students receiving free or reduced-price lunch, a little less than half of special education students and 18 percent of multilingual learners.
Students who don't pass can still graduate by meeting state benchmarks on the PSAT, SAT, ACT or Accuplacer, or by completing a portfolio, Tew said. At the high school, students in English and math labs work in small groups with a teacher and typically finish their portfolios by March.
The late arrival of state data this year made that harder, she said. Results didn't come in until late August, after schedules were built, so the district had to scramble to fit labs into students' schedules.
The district wants to offer those lab classes in ninth and 10th grade so students get help before they take the test, Tew said. The curriculum team is also focusing this year on universal design for learning, which means planning lessons for all learners in a classroom, and on specialized strategies for English learners and special education students.
"It's not just about passing the test; it's getting extra support in these skills that are lifelong," she said.
Results on the state's alternative assessment for a small group of special education students showed English language arts scores rising from 27 percent to 55 percent at target or advanced. Math scores fell from 53 percent to 42 percent.
Preliminary results from the state's other standardized test, the NJSLA, arrived just before the meeting and will be presented in November,Tew said. Parents should get individual score reports in late fall, likely after Halloween. AP, SAT and ACT results will come in December.
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