Achieve's reports on this state:
Measuring Up 2004 represents Achieve's third time working with New Jersey. In 2000, Achieve reviewed the state's Core Curriculum Content Standards in language arts literacy and math and analyzed the alignment of the state's tests at grades 4 and 8 and high school with those standards. In 2001, Achieve also evaluated the state's science standards and assessments at grades 4 and 8.
Since Achieve's first report in 2000, New Jersey has revised its Core Curriculum Content Standards in language arts literacy and math. In 2004, at the request of the governor and commissioner of education and with the encouragement and support of New Jersey United, a statewide business and education coalition, Achieve reviewed the state's revised standards and related tests. We compared the revised standards in language arts literacy and math with the earlier version of the standards, as well as with our benchmark standards. We also analyzed how well the state tests in grades 4 and 8 and high school assess the knowledge and skills found in the state's new standards.
Achieve found significant improvement in the new standards — especially in math, and in some of the state's assessments. In language arts the standards are exemplary in the early grades but need improvement in middle and high school. Although New Jersey's assessments in language arts literacy have some strengths, they do not measure the full depth and breadth of the standards. The state's 4th grade math assessment is rigorous and well aligned, but the 8th and 11th grade tests are not as challenging as they should be.
Achieve recommends that the state strengthen the language arts literacy standards in grades 5–12, develop grade-level standards (or course standards in the case of high school) for grades where they do not exist, and increase the level of cognitive demand of both the math and language arts literacy tests as recommended.
Unlike many other states, New Jersey moved beyond language arts and math to focus on science standards and assessments. Achieve conducted an evaluation of the state's science standards, adopted in 1996, and the alignment of its grade 4 and 8 tests against those standards. Achieve shared its preliminary findings prior to the state undertaking a revision of its science standards in 2001. Achieve subsequently provided the state with a final evaluation of its tests and its revised standards. In revising its standards, New Jersey made significant improvements by clarifying content, adding essential topics, and raising the rigor of the standards — focusing on "big ideas," explicitly linking concepts and skills to related ones in math, increasing the level of specificity, and evening out progression. We found that although the science tests had significant strengths, the state needed to improve the balance of its tests and the level of rigor at grade 4.
Overall, New Jersey's science standards, tests and supporting documents — curriculum frameworks, test specifications and sample tests — provide a strong science education program that could prove to be an example for other states.
Survey Results
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Align HS Standards With Real-World Expectations |
Align HS Graduation Requirements with College & Workplace Expectations |
Use Existing HS Assessments for College Admissions / Placement |
Develop a P-16 Longitudinal Data System |
Hold HS Accountable for Graduating Students College- and Work-Ready |
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Policy in place |
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ADP Network state |
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Plans to implement |
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NGA Honor Grant state |
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In process of aligning standards |
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Education Pipeline Data
Find out how this state is doing in preparing young people for college and work:
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