Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Education Attendance Assessment topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Toms River reports declines in elementary chronic absenteeism, midyear I-Ready gains
Summary
Curriculum staff told the board midyear data show substantial drops in elementary chronic absenteeism (kindergarten cited down from ~38% to ~21% since 2022–23) and that most grades met midyear I-Ready growth benchmarks; staff outlined targeted vocabulary, morphology and math interventions.
Curriculum staff presented a midyear data overview to the Toms River Regional School District board on Feb. 18, 2026, reporting notable progress on attendance and diagnostics across grade bands. The district said kindergarten chronic absenteeism fell from about 38% in 2022–23 to around 21% in the current year, and staff credited school-based attendance committees and targeted outreach for the improvement.
The presenters described chronic absenteeism as students missing roughly 10% or more of the school year and reiterated that New Jersey requires a corrective action plan for schools with rates above 10%. "We've done a tremendous amount of work ... starting and kicking off in the school year of 23–24 and we're really proud of a lot of that work," one presenter said, pointing to declines at the primary level.
On academic diagnostics, staff reviewed midyear I-Ready metrics: a 52% on-track benchmark for math and a 55% benchmark for reading. Most grade levels met or exceeded those midyear targets, with sixth and seventh grades showing some dips in math. At the high-school level, staff explained growth points where 100 points equals a full year of growth; grade 9 averaged roughly 103 points in math and grades 10–11 were around the mid-80s.
Staff said I-Ready midyear projections historically align closely with end-of-year NJSLA proficiency reports. To respond to identified gaps, the curriculum office outlined focused instructional moves: a K–12 emphasis on tier-2 vocabulary and morphology to boost reading comprehension, and K–8 math intervention groups for students three or more grade levels behind. The district also uses short-term booster events and school attendance committees to address attendance-related learning loss.
Board members asked for clarification on the metric and timing. Staff explained the midyear percentages reflect students meeting the chronic-absence threshold at this point in the year (not cumulative unique student counts), and that a student may fall below the end-of-year 'magic number' as the school year progresses. The district noted a recent flu spike temporarily increased absences in December but said daily average attendance had risen about 1 percentage point.
The curriculum team said it would continue to monitor midyear diagnostics and refine targeted interventions ahead of state testing and the remainder of the school year.
