Denville Township Parent Academy for Student Success (PASS) NJ Student Learning Assessment (NJSLA) Informational Webinar March 18, 2019 Presented by Dr. Sandra Cullis scullis@denville.org

What is NJSLA? NJSLA stands for New Jersey Student Learning Assessment Statewide assessment to determine attainment of New Jersey Student Learning Standards All students Grades 3-8 Administered electronically

NJSLA Assessment Designed to measure the state standards that are guiding instruction in mathematics and English language arts. Focus on the skills students need in today’s world, including critical thinking, problem solving, and reasoning.

2019 Testing Dates The NJSLA testing window is as follows: approximately 1-2 hours per day, spread out over 5 or 6 days NJ Student Learning Assessment 3 ELA 3 April 16,17 Math May 6, 7, 9 NJ Student Learning Assessment 4 4 April 11, 12 May 10, 13, 14 NJ Student Learning Assessment 5 5 April 8, 9 April 30, May 1, 2 NJ Student Learning Assessment 6 6 May 2, 6 May 7, 9 NJ Student Learning Assessment 7 7 April 30, May 1 NJ Student Learning Assessment 7 & Algebra 7 May 13-14 NJ Student Learning Assessment 8 8 April 16-17 NJ Student Learning Assessment 8, Algebra 8, Geometry May 16-17

Unit Test Time *reduced from 2018 ELA/L Unit 1 Unit 2 Total Time Grade 3 75 2 Hr. 30 Min. Grades 4-8 90 3 Hours Mathematics Unit 1 Unit 2 Unit 3 Total Time Grades 3-8 60 3 Hours Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II 90 NA

Accommodations All students have access to spellcheck and calculators (in certain sections), scrap paper Students who receive individualized accommodations in their regular instruction, will have the same accommodations on NJSLA; such as extra time, speech to text, braille, large font

What’s New for 2019 ALL grades have one less unit of ELA and one less unit of MATH All grades 4-8 have 60 minutes for math and 90 minutes of ELA for each unit test. Grade 3 has 75 minutes to complete each ELA unit test.

Performance Levels The second page of the report provides information on the different performance levels. They describe how well students met grade-level expectations.

PARCC Proficiency Levels Scaled Score Range 1 Below 700 2 700-724 3 724-749 4 750- to cut score 5 varies

How Denville Uses the NJSLA Data Consider effectiveness of ELA and Math curriculum Analyze topic strands to identify which areas need to be enhanced Identify subgroup achievement gaps Individual data is considered for middle school placements Student growth scores (not achievement scores) are used as part of the evaluation matrix for some teachers (5%)

Refusals The NJSLA assessment is a required test for all public school students, therefore we are not allowed to let students opt-out.  We do have state test refusal procedures in place.  NJSLA Testing Information Link on Denville.org website http://denville.org/academics.cfm?subpage=1329591 One less piece of data for students in grades 5-7 for placement One less piece of data to provide to teachers regarding student proficiency on standards

Impact on District Under Federal Law- ESSA (Every Student Succeeds Act) requires that 95% of all students in grades 3-8 must participate in the annual state assessment; for New Jersey it is NJSLA This includes subgroups- Special Ed & Economically Disadvantaged *As of 2017 – any student beyond the 5% allowance will be recorded as “not proficient” in the district scores For districts not meeting participation rate requirements, action plans must be created and submitted to the county.

Supports NJSLA/PARCC information on Website for Parents Achievethecore.org Student Success Academy Differentiated Instruction Units of Study Aligned to New Jersey Learning Standards

Q & A