Casey (district staff member) told the Board of Education the district's annual student performance report showed overall consistency with prior years while noting a few notable changes.

"This evening, I'm gonna share with the board the annual report of student performance," Casey said, opening the presentation and saying the report focused mainly on NJSLA results but also covered extracurricular accomplishments.

The presentation said Montville students continued to outperform the state average in English language arts and were generally consistent year to year, with most changes in grade-level percentages in the low single digits. Mathematics showed mixed results: the presenter said the district rose in five grade levels, fell in two and remained unchanged in two. Casey singled out eighth-grade math as a downward outlier: "we had dropped 31 percent, which brought us to 52 percent," and said the district will watch that cohort closely.

Casey also said the state is requiring districts to field-test a new vendor's assessment this fall. "It's a test that was taken over by a company called Cambium Assessment," Casey said, and the district will field-test English language arts and math in the fall (grades roughly 4 through 12) to prepare for the first full administration in spring; field-test dates were described as occurring from October into early November for various grade levels.

The presenter reviewed subgroup results. For special education students the district reported gains in mathematics (notably a 15 percentage-point increase in fifth grade and a 10-point increase in algebra I) and improvements across science for grades 5, 8 and 11. For English language learners, Casey noted more students exited the program than the previous year: "In our elementary last year, only 8 exited the program. This year, 25 exited the program." The report also summarized race-based subgroup performance and required state reporting of Hispanic, Asian and white subgroup outcomes.

Casey reviewed college- and exam-related outcomes: the class of 2025 had 95% of graduates attending college or university; the district reported one National Merit Scholar last year, five semifinalists and 42 commended students based on PSAT performance; and advanced placement results showed a roughly 3% increase in the share of scores 3 or higher across the 23 AP subjects offered.

Board members asked clarifying questions about the eighth-grade math decline, the autumn field test's scheduling impact on instructional time and which students would take which field-test modules. A board member asked whether the statewide decline in eighth-grade math meant Montville remained relatively strong; Casey and other staff noted many districts saw declines and that some stronger students are measured on higher-level courses (algebra/geometry) rather than the grade‑8 assessment, which can affect the cohort percentage.

On next steps, Casey said building principals, supervisors and teachers will study item-level state data and use evidence tables to identify standards needing targeted professional development: "the department supervisor...might do some professional development in a department meeting to discuss how are we teaching that concept," a staff speaker explained.

No formal board action on the assessment or program changes was taken at the meeting; staff described plans for analysis, principal- and department-level review, and targeted teacher support going forward.