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Sayreville presents 2024–25 NJGPA, WIDA ACCESS and AP results; district plans targeted supports for multilingual learners and students with disabilities
Summary
District staff told the board that Sayreville juniors outperformed state averages on the NJGPA in English and math, but gaps remain for multilingual learners and students with disabilities; officials outlined curriculum pilots, bilingual materials and boot camps to narrow those gaps.
Miss Grossman, the district staff member who presented student achievement data, told the Sayreville Board of Education that preliminary 2024–25 results show the district exceeded state proficiency rates on the New Jersey Graduation Proficiency Assessment (NJGPA) in both English language arts and mathematics.
"We exceeded the state proficiency rate by 9.5% in language arts literacy," Miss Grossman said, and she reported the district demonstrated 66% readiness in mathematics versus a 58% state average. She emphasized subgroup differences: economically disadvantaged students and students with disabilities lag behind their peers, and multilingual learners show lower readiness in mathematics.
The presentation included breakdowns by gender, race and subgroup. Miss Grossman reported that roughly 362 students completed the WIDA ACCESS test this year; 22 students (about 6%) met the composite 4.5 cut score needed to exit ESL services, and an additional 44 students scored a 4 or higher (nearly at grade level). She said 24 languages are represented among the district’s multilingual learners, with more than half speaking Spanish.
The district proposed several next steps aimed at narrowing gaps: piloting new high-school curriculum materials focused on literacy acquisition, adopting bilingual support materials (pending grant funding), running NJGPA "boot camps" during the year and over the summer, and providing tiered interventions (tier 2 and tier 3) for students identified as needing extra support. Miss Grossman listed numerical goals for 2025–26, including a 3% reduction in the ELA readiness gap for students with disabilities and a 4% increase in math readiness overall.
Board members asked whether the recent adoption of Study Sync (McGraw Hill) for high-school ELA contributed to gains. Miss Grossman and district leaders said teachers reported the program’s assessments align closely with state requirements and that an agenda item would request approval to expand Study Sync to the middle school. Dr. Labbe and other board members credited targeted instruction, summer acceleration programs and increased supports for contributing to improved outcomes.
A March–June comparison and year-to-year charts were provided to the board; Miss Grossman said she will return with additional NJSLA data next month. The presentation closed with an emphasis on combining curriculum changes, professional development and outside-the-classroom supports to help multilingual learners and students with disabilities demonstrate readiness on state assessments.
Next steps: the board has agenda items to consider Study Sync for middle school and grant-funded purchases of bilingual and literacy-screener materials.
