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District assessment reports show mixed results: AP participation edges up, SAT near state average, NJSLA gains in key grades
Summary
Officials presented AP, SAT and NJSLA results: AP participation increased slightly (715 students, 1,499 exams), district SAT mean was 1065 (class of 2024), and NJSLA showed district-level proficiency rising from 42% to 45% with a pronounced jump in 9th-grade ELA (41% to 57%). Board members debated interpretation and resources.
District assessment staff presented results across AP, SAT and New Jersey Student Learning Assessments (NJSLA), emphasizing both gains and continuing gaps with state averages.
On Advanced Placement, the district reported 715 students took AP exams across three high schools and administered 1,499 exams district-wide; the percent of students earning scores of 3 or higher increased slightly to 69.34%. Presenter John Green walked the board through school-level participation and AP scholar awards across the high schools.
For the SAT, the district reported a three-year mean score of about 1065 for the class of 2024, with 447 students taking the SAT during the reporting period. Green said the district offers every national SAT administration in-house so students can test locally.
Rich Hosnock presented the NJSLA overview and highlighted substantive year-over-year gains in particular cohorts. He pointed to a significant improvement in 9th-grade ELA — "we went from 41% proficiency all the way to 57% proficiency," he said — and noted district proficiency moved from 42% to 45% overall, though that still trails the state average (52%) in aggregate.
Board members asked how the district is addressing buildings or cohorts with persistently low exceeding rates (for example, South Toms River Elementary) and questioned reliance on standardized testing as a single measure of student learning. Presenters stressed a multi-pronged approach focused on strengthening core instruction, MTSS interventions, and using local diagnostics (iReady, IXL) to inform instruction. “They’re growing kids in that particular building,” a staff presenter said regarding growth percentiles even where proficiency remains low, and staff offered to provide more school-level breakdowns at a future meeting.
The presentations concluded with a review of subgroup performance, dynamic learning maps (DLM) results for special education access populations, and a reminder about parent-facing resources and posted assessment FAQs on the district website.
