North Brunswick reports gains for multilingual learners after ACCESS testing; 571 students assessed

The North Brunswick Township School District presented spring 2025 ACCESS for ELLs results at its August public meeting, reporting that the district tested 571 multilingual students and recorded consistent grade‑by‑grade growth that advisors say is narrowing the number of students in the lowest proficiency tiers.

Justennia Morales, the district’s English‑language‑learner supervisor, told the board, “this spring we tested 571 students,” and walked members through cohort comparisons showing movement from lower proficiency tiers into developing and expanding ranges across elementary, middle and high school grades.

Mercy Chang, who introduced the assessment framework, said the state assessment measures four domains and is labor‑intensive to administer. “Students who score above four at 4.5 typically exit the program,” she said, describing the composite benchmark the district uses alongside classroom performance to determine exits.

Board members asked how instruction is differentiated for students who arrive at different ages and who speak different languages. Morales explained that bilingual classrooms are used where feasible (primarily for Spanish speakers) and that ESL classes are organized by proficiency (beginner, intermediate, advanced) so teachers can target language practice and scaffolds. She added the district uses Summit K12 and other digital tools to provide individualized practice and to surface real‑time data for teachers.

The presenters credited several district changes with contributing to growth: a K–6 rollout of Benchmark for early literacy, Bridges and Rewards in grades 7–8, Engage/Lyft curriculum at the high school for bilingual/ESL courses, and quarterly ESL data‑team meetings that review ACCESS, Summit and math assessment data to set targeted interventions. “We developed monitoring and progress forms so that we can track both current and former multilingual students,” Morales said, describing a cycle of quarterly review and targeted planning for domains such as speaking, writing, reading and listening.

Presenters cautioned that cohort comparisons can be complicated by transient enrollment and newcomers who enter at older grades; Morales said student‑level tracking is housed in the district’s Elevation program and can be shared with board members on request.

The presentation drew praise from board members, who asked the district to share more cohort‑tracking detail and suggested a committee briefing on the data‑team process. The district signaled plans to continue targeted professional development for general‑education and ESL/bilingual teachers to sustain the gains.

What happens next: district staff offered to supply more cohort‑specific enrollment and exit data to board committees and will continue quarterly ESL data‑team meetings to monitor progress.