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District reports gains in NJGPA ELA but math proficiency lags behind state average
Summary
Toms River presented NJGPA results: district ELA proficiency rose to 84% (state 82%), math proficiency was 49% (state 55%), and overall graduation-pathway readiness stood at 67% versus the state 68%. Staff noted the state lowered the NJGPA cut score from 750 to 725.
The Toms River Regional School District reported mixed results on the New Jersey Graduation Proficiency Assessment, with gains in English language arts and lower relative performance in mathematics.
Rich Fosnock, presenting district assessment data at the July 1 meeting, said 1,184 11th graders took the NJGPA this year. He reported a district ELA proficiency of 84% compared with a state average of about 82%, and a district mathematics proficiency of 49% compared with a state average of 55%. "Last year we had 76% [ELA]; this year we made a gain of about 8% in English language arts," Fosnock said, and he noted the state recently lowered the NJGPA passing score from 750 to 725.
Fosnock provided school-level detail: High School East improved in ELA to 89% (from 80%) and saw a mathematics gain; High School North and High School South also recorded ELA and math changes, with South showing a 10-percentage-point ELA gain. Across the district, Fosnock said the first-pathway graduation-ready rate for students entering their senior year was 67% (state 68%), and he described how the district uses that information for staffing and intervention planning.
Board members asked for the number of students who had not yet met secondary-assessment benchmarks; staff said they would provide exact disaggregated counts later, and noted preliminary figures indicating 298 more students were graduation-ready in ELA and 36 more in math compared with prior measures.
The presentation framed the results as progress in ELA with work still needed in mathematics and outlined next steps for intervention and staffing adjustments going into the school year.
