State presents NJASK results
The New Jersey Department of Education recently presented to the State Board of Education the results of the New Jersey Assessment of Skills and Knowledge (NJASK) and the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA) for the 2013-14 school year.
This is the final year of the assessments, as New Jersey transitions to the Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, or the PARCC assessments.
Statewide performance results remained relatively constant on both the NJASK and HSPA this year, with only slight increases or decreases from the positive results seen in 2013, according to a news release from Gov. Chris Christie's office.
After several years of transitioning, in 2014 the state’s NJASK assessments in grades three to eight in English Language Arts (ELA) and mathematics were fully aligned to the Common Core State Standards, which the New Jersey State Board adopted in 2010. The Common Core State Standards were created by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers in an effort to ensure students graduate ready for college and career.
“Some states have struggled with abrupt changes to new standards, but New Jersey’s approach, by design, has been a thoughtful and deliberative transition over the past four years,” said Acting Education Commissioner David C. Hespe. “Even with the higher standards being incorporated in New Jersey classrooms, the high levels of student performance have remained steady.”
In 2015, New Jersey will fully transition to PARCC, computer-based assessments that are aligned to the Common Core State Standards.
“One of the major criticisms of NJASK is that it could not provide educators with actionable information to improve the classroom, and it couldn’t tell parents whether their child is on track to graduate high school prepared for college and career,” said Acting Commissioner Hespe. “That is why we're moving toward the new PARCC assessments in 2015. Teachers who are informed by good data teach better, and parents who have insight into their child’s progress feel empowered.”
Additional Assessments
In the information provided to the State Board on Wednesday, Acting Commissioner Hespe discussed results in other assessments not administered by the State of New Jersey that had been released in the previous months. Highlights include:
SAT
More students have been taking the SAT in recent years. In 2014, there were 71,513 seniors who took the SAT, as compared to 64,120 who took the SAT in 2009. Currently, approximately 75 percent of high school seniors take the college admission exam.
SAT scores in New Jersey have increased slightly from 1,512 in 2013 to 1,514 in reading, math and writing. This compares favorably with national results, where scores have dropped slightly for the past several years, from 1,474 in 2013 to 1,471 in 2014.
Advanced Placement
The number of students who take Advanced Placement courses, which allow high school students to earn college-level credits, continued to increase. In 2009, New Jersey had 38,703 students taking AP placement tests. By 2014 the number rose to 53,010. In addition, 73 percent of test takers earned a score of 3 or higher (a 3 is typically the minimum required to earn college credit).
Minority students are taking AP courses in increasing numbers. Overall, the number of all New Jersey students taking AP courses increased 6.3 percent from last year to this year. However, the number of African-American students taking AP courses increased by 14.9 percent, and the number of Hispanic students increased by 10.5 percent.
Results can be found online at the NJDOE's Statewide Assessment Reports webpage.