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Linden leaders defend Edmentum benchmark program as board presses for clearer outcomes
Summary
District staff described how the Edmentum/Exact Path benchmark and the new adaptive NJSLA are used in classrooms and presented internal growth data; board members pressed for multi-year state-score comparisons, contract value justification and data comparing similar districts.
District directors on April 28 described how Linden Public Schools uses Edmentum'Exact Path as the district's mandatory benchmark assessment and said the platform helps teachers target standards-based skill gaps, but several board members demanded clearer evidence tying the program to state test results and asked for comparative data with similar districts.
Superintendent Dr. Perkins introduced a multi-staffer presentation showing how the district administers three diagnostics per year and embeds Exact Path into daily center rotations. "If students miss more than 18 days in a school year, it's an automatic failure," Dr. Perkins said while urging families to prioritize attendance, and she emphasized Exact Path is only one tool among classroom resources.
Jennifer Smith, identified as the director of elementary language arts, told the board Exact Path personalizes learning, offers text-to-speech and translation supports for multilingual learners, and produces reports teachers use to group students for small-group intervention. A presenter who summarized diagnostic gains said general-student diagnostic scores grew roughly 35'40 points from fall to midyear, multilingual learners averaged about 52.8 points in math and special-education students about 31.2 points; the presenter also reported correlations above 0.7 between benchmark mastery and prior standardized-test outcomes.
Board members questioned how the new NJSLA adaptive test operates in practice and whether results can be compared year to year. "This is a new test that adapts to a student's ability level," Dr. Perkins said, explaining the state controls test timing and that Exact Path is intended to familiarize students with adaptive formats. Board member questions focused on test mechanics (how students pause sections and resume over the two-day window) and on whether district diagnostic gains are reflected in the official state scores.
Dr. Berghammer repeatedly pressed for additional data: three-year and longer-term state-score trends, the district's contract expenditures on Edmentum, and comparisons with nearby districts such as Elizabeth or Rahway. Presenters and the superintendent said the district will provide more detailed metrics and noted the Edmentum contract is part of a multi-year procurement cycle that limits immediate program changes.
District staff described classroom implementation: at the elementary level, an 80-minute literacy block typically includes two rotating centers (15'20 minutes each) where students may use Exact Path while the teacher runs small-group instruction. Teachers use Exact Path data, along with other diagnostics, to form targeted interventions and to inform parent-teacher communications through the Genesis portal.
Next steps recorded at the meeting included presenters agreeing to supply longitudinal state-score comparisons, a review of contract-cycle timing and cost-benefit materials, and follow-up information on how Exact Path usage varies by school and subgroup. The board also asked staff to present comparative analyses with similar districts and to make the data accessible to members before the next meeting.
The superintendent closed the presentation by reiterating that Exact Path is a benchmark tool and not a substitute for curriculum and classroom instruction; she said the district is tracking growth and will return with additional evidence and recommendations.
