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Ridgefield Park reports strong ELA gains, math remains a focus; multilingual learners show rising exits
Summary
The Ridgefield Park Public School District said July 16 that district ELA graduation-readiness rose to 82.6% (above the state), while math proficiency lags at 52.5%. The district reported a 15% exit rate for multilingual learners in 2025, the highest in four years.
Assistant Superintendent Ms. Streglia presented spring 2025 assessment results to the Ridgefield Park Public School District board on July 16, saying district ELA outcomes have improved while mathematics "still warrants a lot of focus and commitment."
"We were at 37.8% graduation ready to now 82.6% for ELA," Ms. Streglia said, citing year-over-year gains that place the district slightly ahead of the state ELA rate of 80.7%. By contrast, she said, the district's mathematics graduation-ready rate was 52.5% versus a state average around 58%. Participation rates were high: 99% of eligible students took the NJGPA ELA assessment and 99% took the math component.
Ms. Streglia and Superintendent Dr. Vespignani highlighted subgroup breakdowns that shaped the district's next steps. The presentation showed lower proficiency among students with Individualized Education Programs and among some multilingual learner (ML) groups; the district noted that small subgroup counts can suppress published data. For special-education students, Ms. Streglia said "we know we need to put some focus on what's going on there and ensure we're using self-monitoring tools to track progress."
On English-language learners, Ms. Streglia explained ACCESS for ELLs exit criteria (a composite score of 4.5 plus other evidence) and reported that of 181 MLs in 2024-25, 180 took the assessment and 27 exited the program—about a 15% exit rate, the highest in four years. "We're seeing an increase in the number of students that are exiting, which is exciting," she said, and outlined supports including expanded ESL minutes, bilingual glossaries, peer monitoring and family workshops.
Trustees asked how the district uses its LinkIt data warehouse to drive classroom instruction, and Ms. Streglia said teachers and supervisors have been trained and the district is entering a "refine" phase in which data conversations and instructional adjustments are expected to become regular practice. On monitoring students who exit ESL services, she said the district currently uses a two-year monitoring expectation and can report transient/turnover figures when requested.
The administration described instructional strategies intended to boost math outcomes: small-group instruction, peer tutoring, formative assessments, explicit "I can" objectives posted in classrooms, and targeted professional development for high-impact math instruction. The district also cited I-Ready and MTSS as parts of its intervention toolkit.
The superintendent and assistant superintendent said they will continue to provide benchmarks and additional detail to the board as staff implement targeted supports and professional development ahead of the 2025-26 school year.
