It’s test score presentation season, that time of year when public schools announce the results of last spring’s New Jersey Student Learning Assessment (NJSLA). Knowlton presented its spring 2026 results at the October 19 Board of Education meeting.
Harrowing as the public presentation may be, Knowlton has reason to take pride in its ELA prowess. All four grades beat county and state averages on the ELA test, sometimes by significant measures.
Knowlton also met or exceeded county and state averages in every grade on the math test. But that picture is a little more complicated.
Something Old, Something New: Knowlton’s First Adaptive NJSLA
On the one hand, NJSLA itself is a familiar ritual of the school year. Administered to students in grades 3 – 11, the test is meant to measure individual and district mastery of learning outcomes in English and math. The science test is also administered to grades 5, 8 and 11.
This year presented a new wrinkle: It’s the first implementation of an adaptive NJSLA test for English and math. Instead of presenting all students with the same questions in the same order, the adaptive test adjusts question difficulty according to student performance. A streak of correct answers will prompt harder questions, while flubs will lead to easier questions. The hoped-for goal is a test that will take a more precise measurement of a student’s knowledge and abilities.
The science section was not adaptive. Neither was the new writing section, which required students to write in response to a prompt.
The change meant that Vice Principal Dana Carroll couldn’t accurately compare this year’s results to last year’s. The test itself changed, and so had the scoring scale. The test still labels results with five levels: Did Not Yet Meet Expectations, Partially Met Expectations, Approaching Expectations, Met Expectations and Exceeded Expectations.
Carroll’s presentation focused on Knowlton’s performance vs. the state’s and county’s.
In that comparison, Knowlton students have plenty to be proud of. The district average fell into the Met Expectations category in all four grades, and each grade’s average exceeded the state and county averages.
Last year’s sixth graders posted especially impressive scores. For grade 6, the average ELA score of 1517. That’s 19 points higher than the state average of 1498 and 20 points higher than Warren County’s average of 1497.
The picture for math is slightly different. Knowlton students also met or beat state and county averages in math. But according to the scoring thresholds, only Grade 3 met expectations while the Grades 4 – 6 averages fell into Level 3 – Approaching Expectations.
The gap between Knowlton’s average and the score threshold for meeting expectations widened with age. Grade 3’s average fell into the Meeting Expectations category; Grade 4 fell two points shy, Grade 5 fell 7 points shy and Grade 6 fell 9 points shy.
The science test showed similar results. Unlike ELA and math, science scores are divided into four categories, not five: Below Grade-Level Expectations, Approaching Expectations, Meeting Expectations, and Above Expectations.
Knowlton Grade 5 students posted science scores that beat the state average by 10 points and the Warren County average by 14 points. Still, according to the scoring thresholds, Knowlton’s average fell into Level 2, Approaching Expectations.
Difficulty with NJSLA’s science section isn’t new. In spring 2023, for example, only 27% of NJ’s fifth graders met or exceeded grade-level expectations on the test.
“Science has been a struggle,” Carroll said. “Obviously, it is a struggle across the state and county. Everyone’s frustrated.”
The school laid out five general goals for test performance professional development and data-driven team planning to target skill gaps, strengthening student skills, supporting teachers, using in-house assessments and probes, student mindset and motivation.
Making Sense of the Results: Less Than 50% of NJ Students Meet Expectations in Math
During public comment, Grade 5 and 6 social studies and ELA teacher Jenna Maxman noted the pressure that the NJSLA puts on teachers, especially in the core subjects.
“[Test scores] are one snapshot… They are one snapshot of a child’s success in school, and there’s so many other things that go into it,” she said.
In the case of the NJSLA math and science sections, one of those other factors may be the test itself. Statewide, less than half of the student population is meeting grade-level expectations according to scoring thresholds.
Note: Grade 5 Knowlton’s 33% figure reflects students meeting expectations; the percentage of students beating expectations is missing. The chart displays the reported figure and should be considered incomplete for that grade.
Key takeaway: Knowlton outperformed the New Jersey average in Grades 3, 4 and 6, while New Jersey outperformed Knowlton in Grade 5 based on the reported figures.
Superintendent Jeannine DeFalco noted that the NJSLA is the latest standardized test in a series of them over the decades. “It’s progressively changed,” she said. “But is it really getting any better? Is it really doing what they want it to do? That’s the question.”
Carroll added: “Is it a standard shift? Is it the standards and the developmental age of a student? A lot of us in this room can attest to when we were in high school and even in elementary school, it was very different from what the kids are learning now. Some of the topics they are learning in sixth grade are what we learned in eighth grade. So, you know, it’s widely debated.”
In Other News: AI in Schools, Fundraisers, Knowlton Knights
Besides test scores, the meeting’s business covered a range of goings-on.
The board wished good luck to special education teacher Susan Thurgood, whose resignation takes effect on Jan. 1, 2027.
Carroll reported back from a curriculum summit on the use of AI in schools. “The overall feeling at the summit is that AI is here to stay,” she said. “So even though AI may seem scary or overwhelming, we need to prepare our students for the new digital age.”
Suggested educational outcomes for AI use break down by grade level. For kindergarten through grade 2, students will learn how to notice AI; grades 3 through 5 will learn to understand AI; grades 6 through 8 will evaluate AI; and high schoolers will learn to justify and oversee AI.
In happy news, the school’s wrapping paper fundraiser raised $3,700 to help offset the costs of field trips, especially bussing, a cost that Carroll called “astronomical.”
The board also awarded three Knowlton Knight awards for the month. Two went to kindergarteners Mason and Allie and a third to Stella Krieger.
Upcoming Dates
Next BOE meeting: November 16
First strategic planning meeting, open to all school community members: December 7
Winter Concert: December 10 (storm date: December 17)
Chip O'Chang is an educator, fiction writer, and lifelong resident of New Jersey. He has also written for My Life Publications and NJ Indy. He lives in the NJ Skylands with his partner, two cats, and and a bearded dragon.
- Chip O'Chang, Contributing Writerhttps://ridgeviewecho.com/author/chip-ochang-contributing-writer/
- Chip O'Chang, Contributing Writerhttps://ridgeviewecho.com/author/chip-ochang-contributing-writer/
- Chip O'Chang, Contributing Writerhttps://ridgeviewecho.com/author/chip-ochang-contributing-writer/
- Chip O'Chang, Contributing Writerhttps://ridgeviewecho.com/author/chip-ochang-contributing-writer/
