NJ’s literacy challenge by the numbers
Look up NJ’s latest data – and your local school’s
Fewer than half of New Jersey’s third graders scored what is essentially a passing grade on the New Jersey Student Learning Assessment (NJSLA) English Language Arts (ELA) test last spring. That’s roughly the same as in the spring of 2022 and remains lower than the pre-COVID-19 results. The tests were not given in 2020 or 2021 due to the disruptions of the pandemic.
Passing rates were even lower for some of the most disadvantaged groups of students, including those with disabilities, multilingual learners, Black students, Latino students and students who receive free or reduced-price lunch.
Fourth graders fared better, with just over half scoring proficient on the state ELA test last year. That’s an improvement over 2022, when the state passing rate was 49.4%, but still well behind the pre-COVID-19 passing rate of almost 58%. The table below lists the results over the three years for all elementary schools and districts.
New Jersey’s fourth graders have consistently outperformed the nation on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reading test, typically administered every other year.
NAEP has higher proficiency standards than New Jersey’s state assessment and is not a direct measure of reading on grade level. Proficiency on NAEP means “solid academic performance” and “competency over challenging subject matter,” according to the National Center for Education Statistics.
But New Jersey’s proficiency rate has plummeted more steeply than the national average since 2019, pre-pandemic.
As on the New Jersey Student Learning Assessment, disadvantaged New Jersey students did not fare as well as fourth graders as a whole on the NAEP. They scored about the same as the national average or, in the case of English language learners, lagged behind.
Cover photo: (NJ Spotlight News)
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The Change Project is a part of the Chasing the Dream multiplatform public media initiative from The WNET Group. We are reporting on challenges facing New Jersey in a variety of areas involving social justice and equity, as well as showcasing promising remedies. Our reporting focuses on inequality in many aspects of life, from birth through school to finding an affordable place to live. We are also focusing on what has worked elsewhere to make life better for people, and what lessons we can learn for the future.
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