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Saddle Brook leaders cite double-digit gains in NJSLA and NJ GPA; retakes underway
Summary
At the board meeting, district staff presented NJSLA and NJ GPA results showing double-digit improvements in several grades and subgroups. Officials credited schedule changes, targeted interventions and professional development; NJ GPA retakes are in progress for students who did not meet the 725 cut score.
Superintendent Miss Vietti and Mrs Jenkins, the district’s director of student data, research and evaluation, told the Saddle Brook Board of Education that students posted notable gains on state assessments and the district’s graduation-readiness measure.
Mrs Jenkins outlined the data during a testing presentation the board received tonight. She highlighted large shifts in key cohorts: “we doubled our instruction in math and we got double digit increases in performance in achievement and double-digit decreases in lower … this is really significant,” she said, describing schedule changes and targeted professional development that the district implemented for math instruction in grade six.
The presentation cited specific results: a 19.3% decrease in students scoring at or below Level 2 in sixth-grade NJSLA assessments and, conversely, a 206% increase in sixth graders scoring Level 4 or higher. Districtwide, Mrs Jenkins reported a 5.3% increase in students scoring Level 4 or above in ELA and a 5.8% increase districtwide in math. She also described double-digit subgroup gains, including a rise in Hispanic students’ graduation-ready rate in ELA from 70% for the prior cohort to 95% for the Class of 2025.
On the state graduation assessment (NJ GPA), Mrs Jenkins explained the three pathways students may use to meet the requirement and reminded the board that the passing cut score is 725. She said the Class of 2025 “outperformed the state average in NJ GPA ELA and math,” and noted the district ran retake sessions and review supports this week; students who remain below the cut score and lack a qualifying SAT/PSAT may be offered an alternate placement assessment or a portfolio pathway.
District leaders attributed gains to several local strategies detailed in the presentation: expanded instructional minutes for targeted grades, evidence-statement analysis and professional development for teachers, expanded curriculum guides, targeted Title I services in certain schools, and the use of formative monitoring tools and small-group interventions. Mrs Jenkins credited work led by Mrs DeBonis (curriculum/support staff) for developing “fingertip” resources teachers use to plan instruction for English learners and other subgroups.
Board members asked procedural and reporting questions and were directed to more detailed charts posted on the district assessment website; the presenter said the slide deck contains 106 slides and the public can view detailed subgroup data there. Mrs Jenkins also noted reporting limits: when a demographic subgroup contains fewer than 10 students, the district does not publish subgroup results to protect privacy.
The board was told next steps include continued professional development, monitoring interventions and supporting students taking NJ GPA retakes this week. The superintendent also reiterated district-wide safety and communications work during her report and reminded the public about an emergency communication test scheduled for Oct. 18.
The board did not make any assessment-policy changes at this meeting; officials said the district will continue to monitor outcomes as retake and secondary-pathway results are finalized.
