Summit schools report strong NJSLA performance, district warned of state testing platform change

Heather Rocco, the Summit Public School District director of curriculum and instruction, presented the district’s spring 2025 standardized test results and a state‑mandated testing platform change to the Board of Education at its October meeting.

Rocco said the district performed “really strong” overall on New Jersey Student Learning Assessments (NJSLA) in English language arts and math, and that the district generally outperformed state averages at grades 3–9 for ELA and across comparable math assessments. She noted the district continues to disaggregate results by subgroup (race, program, gender) and to track cohorts year to year to guide instruction.

Why it matters: the results are used to direct curriculum, professional development and interventions. Rocco said the district uses the NJSLA and complementary diagnostics (iReady, Acadience) to identify standards that need targeted support and to plan tiered interventions and progress monitoring.

Key details from the presentation

- Dynamic Learning Maps (DLM), the alternate assessment for students with the most significant disabilities, had 19 Summit test takers this year; performance is reported on four levels (emerging → advanced). Rocco cautioned small sample sizes when interpreting those results.

- ELA: Summit’s share of students meeting or exceeding expectations (levels 4–5) exceeded state averages across many grades; Rocco added a slide comparing district and state percentages at each of the five performance levels so board members could see distributional differences.

- Math: overall results were strong. Rocco noted a focus on the grade‑6 math transition and continued emphasis on vertical articulation between grades 5 and 6. She flagged grade 8 math, where this year 37% of tested students met or exceeded expectations versus 47% last year, and said the district is investigating cohort and pathway differences (some grade‑8 students take Algebra I while others take grade‑level math).

- Science (SLA): Summit showed notable growth at grade 5 (a roughly 10‑point increase over three years). Rocco credited coordinated instruction between STEAM teachers and general education teachers and highlighted work under new science supervisor Maddie Trevaille.

- Regional comparisons: Rocco added a slide comparing Summit’s 2024 results with selected neighboring districts; she reported Summit generally compares favorably on met/exceeded measures.

Parent notification and access

Rocco said parents received paper copies of student reports in September and that all scores are uploaded to the Genesis (parent portal) with directions on how to access them. She also said district staff will assist principals and teachers in reviewing individual student profiles upon request.

State testing platform change and mandatory field test

Rocco said the New Jersey Department of Education will replace the Pearson platform with Cambium. The state has required all districts to participate in a field test in the Cambium platform; the field‑test window is Oct. 27–Nov. 14 and will include students in grades 4–11 for ELA and math (science platform remains unchanged). Building administrators and the district technology supervisor, Doug Orr, have been trained on the new platform.

- Field test logistics: the state requires participation and will not release field‑test results to districts; the district will not receive scores from the field test for local analysis. Rocco said the field test is meant to validate systems and workflows and collect vendor feedback.

- Adaptive testing rollout: the state plans to roll out an adaptive assessment (called NJ GPA / adaptive NJSLA) in 2026; the district has not yet received final reporting guidance and Rocco warned that year‑to‑year score comparisons may be affected by the change to adaptive format.

Timing and test length

Rocco described the field‑test unit structure: two 60‑minute units for reading and math administered across two days and a 120‑minute writing unit. She said building schedules will be adjusted and that parents will receive dates for their child’s school soon.

Attribution

Rocco, and district technology staff referenced throughout the presentation, presented the slides and field‑test details. Superintendent Scott Huff introduced Rocco’s presentation and answered procedural questions related to parent communications.

Provenance

This article draws on the district presentation beginning at 28:11 (Heather Rocco) through the testing platform discussion (approx. 32:00–33:00).