-Jennie Lamon, Assistant Director of Government Relations
The New Jersey State Board of Education (“Board”) met in Trenton on Wednesday, December 6, 2023 for their final meeting of the calendar year. During their monthly meeting, the New Jersey Department of Education (“NJDOE”) presented the results of the New Jersey Student Learning Assessments (NJSLA) for the 2022-2023 school year. The State Board also received an update on statewide initiatives to address learning acceleration. Additionally, the State Board heard, at first discussion, the proposed readoption with amendments 6A:22, Student residency.
School Year 2022-23 Assessment Reports
This administration of the statewide assessment represents the second year of comparable data to pre-pandemic levels. Assistant Commissioner Dr. Jorden Schiff began the presentation with the important reminder that testing provides a single data point, and compared it to checking a temperature; it can tell us the what, but not the why. The Department shared the results, desegregated by grade level and district, as well as some context for interpreting the results as they walked the Board through the results for the ACCESS for ELLs, the Dynamic Learning Map (DLM), the New Jersey Graduation Proficiency Assessment (NJGPA), and finally, the New Jersey Student Learning Assessment (NJSLA) for English Language Arts, Mathematics and Science. The overriding positive news is that proficiency, or passing rates, on the NJSLA, increased in nearly all grade levels in English Language Arts and math from 2022 to 2023. Passing rates also increased on the science assessment. However, the concerning news was that students of color, Hispanic students, English-language learners, economically disadvantaged students and students with disabilities scored below the statewide average across all the subjects. View the 2023 New Jersey Student Learning Assessment Data presentation to the Board here.
Update on Statewide Initiatives to Address Learning Acceleration
The NJDOE Division of Teaching and Learning Services provided an update on statewide initiatives to address learning acceleration with an overview of the NJ Partnership for Student Success, the state’s high impact tutoring program, the statewide strategic plan for preschool expansion, and steps taken to address the teacher shortage such as the certification fee holiday, the limited certificate of eligibility pilot program and an initiative to diversify the teacher workforce. See the Department of Education’s full presentation of the initiatives to address learning acceleration here.
The State Board also heard, at First Discussion, the proposed readoption with
amendments to the rules at N.J.A.C. 6A:22, Student Residency. The Division of Finance and Business Services presented to the Board. The rules establish procedures for districts to determine students’ eligibility to attend school in a particular school district free of charge based on domicile, residency, or “affidavit student” status (living with, and supported by a person other than the parent or guardian for reasons not related to attending school). The rules detail what a district must include in its policies for determining residency and detail the process for charging tuition for students who are ineligible for free attendance. The goals of the proposed amendments are to: update the terminology, titles, and gendered language; replace and remove outdated references to statute and code; increase consistency in districts’ residency standards for students; and implement recently enacted legislation, P.L. 2023, c. 61.
Finally, the New Jersey State Board of Education also received public testimony on Wednesday afternoon. Members of the public spoke on the amendments to the Special Education regulations.
The State Board will meet again on January 10, 2024. The Board will also receive public testimony on Student Residency and Open Topic (any education related matter) on that day.
For further information, please visit the DOE website, or contact your NJPSA Government Relations team, Debbie Bradley dbradley@njpsa.org or Jennie Lamon jlamon@njpsa.org.