Hawthorne district reports gains on state ELA tests, outlines screening and intervention steps

Hawthorne Public School District officials told the school board on Monday that the district made measurable gains on 2025 NJSLA state assessments, with districtwide English language arts proficiency (scores of 4 or 5) reported at about 61% and math proficiency at about 41%.

At a nearly hour-and-a-half presentation, the district’s assessment lead said the results show multi-year upward trends and improvement for targeted subgroups, while also identifying specific “blip” areas — notably a fourth-grade dip and a complex ninth-grade comparison affected by student attrition between eighth and ninth grade.

Dr. Trebona, the district’s assessment director, told the board the district is seeing “a snowball” effect from sustained interventions: cohort comparisons show year-to-year growth for students tracked from grade to grade, and subgroup analysis showed gains among Hispanic students, economically disadvantaged students and students with disabilities in many grades. “We went from 55% to 61% in ELA over three years,” Dr. Trebona said during the presentation.

Why this matters: district leaders said the results validate choices the district made in curriculum pacing, use of a new universal screener and the rollout of I-Ready and MyPath individualized interventions. Board members and parents pressed for details about how the district will address the fourth-grade dip and how parents can access…