Standardized Testing and Assessments

All New Jersey public school districts are required to administer achievement tests developed by the New Jersey Department of Education. New Jersey students in Grades 3 to 10 will be tested in Literacy and in Mathematics through the New Jersey Student Learning Assessment. Literacy and Math assessments are used to measure the success of our schools on the standards set by the Federal "Every Student Succeeds Act."

The New Jersey Student Learning Assessments (NJSLA) is the standardized measure used in New Jersey. It is important to note that the NJSLA will be given throughout a student’s high school career, as the required English and Mathematics courses are taken and completed (e.g. English I, II, III and Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II).

The New Jersey Department of Education requires all graduates to meet a minimum proficiency on a standardized assessment. Currently there are several assessments throughout a student's high school career that meet that expectation. This link includes the most current information. https://www.nj.gov/education/assessment/requirements/2023_2025.shtml

Students in Grades 5, 8, and 11 will also take the New Jersey Student Learning Assessment in Science, which is an online cumulative measure of science standards. This assessment is administered late spring each year.

Our District has created other assessments to monitor the academic development of our students in their first years of schooling. When a student enters Kindergarten, an individual Literacy Portfolio is started and remains open until the end of second grade. This portfolio (developed in partnership with ETS educators) contains several instruments that measure a child's literacy development over time.

The mathematical progress of our elementary students Grades K-5 is measured by assessments developed by our own staff. This includes unit pre/post assessments and the end of year math assessment.

At other selected grade levels, students are asked to demonstrate their ability to conduct and present research findings. Our Grade 5 students will participate in an inter-disciplinary research project that build students' research skills. In Grade 6, students complete an inter-disciplinary research task in which they research a significant contribution of an ancient society that has impacted our lives today. This task is comprised of research with a small group using multiple cited sources of online and print information, an independently written essay, and an oral/visual presentation summarizing the students' research findings.

Students in grades 7 and 8 complete an inter-disciplinary research task related to an important event in early U.S History, a worldwide issue or event in which they research the event using multiple cited sources of online and print information, and report through a written essay about the political, economic, and/or social impacts of the chosen event or issue. In Grade 12, students complete a Health Education Research Task.

Each year approximately 85 percent of the SBHS Senior class take the SAT prior to graduation. The new edition of the test, introduced in 2005, measures performance in Reading, Writing and Mathematics.

The South Brunswick School District will administer the various New Jersey mandated assessments during designated weeks in the Spring.