The New Jersey Department of Education recently posted the state’s School Performance Reports for the 2022-2023 school year, providing extensive state-level education information as well as data by school district and individual school.
The 2022-2023 School Performance Reports include all data categories that were reported prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, including all assessment, student growth, and accountability data. Additionally, the 2022-2023 School Performance Reports will include student growth data for the first time since 2018-2019. The NJDOE’s measure of student growth requires both current-year assessment results and at least one prior year’s results, but growth data could not be reported in recent years because the New Jersey Student Learning Assessments were cancelled in 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In addition to assessment and accountability results, the reports contain a wide variety of information such as data regarding student demographics; participation and performance on the PSAT, SAT, and ACT tests; course participation including Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate and dual enrollment courses; chronic absenteeism; discipline data; staff information; graduation rates; and district narratives.
“The NJDOE’s School Performance Reports provide communities with a starting point for discussion, and they can also be a valuable tool for school leaders to identify successes and areas for improvement,” said Kevin Dehmer, acting commissioner of education. “Our educators are particularly interested in the student growth data because when focusing on academic growth, rather than solely test scores, we get a better understanding of how well our students are progressing and opportunities for improvement.”
The 2022-2023 reports include the following changes that respond to updated state requirements and stakeholder feedback:
- Expanded computer science course participation data showing participation for all grades kindergarten through grade 12.
- New Jersey Graduation Proficiency Assessment results for 2022-2023 11th graders.
- Results from the fall 2023 Every Student Succeeds Act accountability process.
The School Performance Reports provide trend data that reflects advances, such as the 91.1% four-year graduation rate, which is the highest level since New Jersey implemented the federal graduation rate calculation in 2011; and Advanced Placement results released by the College Board in February, which rank New Jersey second in the country for highest percentage of schools offering at least one AP course. The data also highlights areas for improvement, such as K-12 chronic absenteeism rates, which decreased from 18.1% in 2021-2022 to 16.6% last year but remain above pre-pandemic levels of 10.6% in 2018-2019.
The School Performance Reports and other supporting documents can be accessed on the NJDOE’s School Performance Reports website.
