The New Jersey Department of Education announced a new set of state testing on Aug. 13, meaning the borough board of education has to fit the assessments into this year’s schedule.
The New Jersey Graduation Proficiency Assessment (NJGPA) and the New Jersey Student Learning Assessments (NJSLA) are both adaptive field assessments, with the former administered to high-school juniors and seniors and the latter taken by students from grade four to sophomore year of high school.
The assessments adapt to the test-taker in real time, based on their answers to previous questions, with an algorithm to select queries. It is meant to more accurately and efficiently measure a student’s abilities and knowledge.
Both tests will have spring and fall sessions. The fall assessment has to be administered between Oct. 27 and Nov. 14. Middle- and high-school marking periods end on Oct. 30, with students out of school from Nov. 3 to 7. The test will have to be taken in the week that students return from that break.
The test will also be on a platform using new software that district staff will need to learn.
“We have to train teachers on it,” acknowledged Superintendent Chuck Klaus during a previous board meeting. “We have to make sure our tech people are comfortable with it. So there’s a lot of stuff going on here right now that hit all at once related to the situation.”
One spring assessment will be administered only to high-school juniors and has to be taken between March 16 and 20 of next year. The other has to be administered to students between April 27 and May 22 of next year, with grades three through nine taking the ELA portion and grades three through high school the math portion. Grades five, eight and 11 will also receive a science portion of the assessment, also between April 27 and May 22.
The testing brings scheduling conflicts, with a two-hour delay planned for March 18. The district generally tries not to test on Monday or Friday if it can be helped; that leaves the option of students taking two sections of testing a day or revising the calendar.
“If we want to avoid Friday testing, which we do,” Klaus explained, “we would have to stack the tests and have the kids take two sections a day, or we have to move that two-hour delay to March 25.”
Official action has yet to be taken. Klaus is working to revise the academic calendar, with approval of the board.
