New School Testing Data: See How NJ K-8 Students Fared

Students in New Jersey spend dozens of hours every school year taking standardized tests to assess their progress in English/language arts and in math, with their scores being used as a key indicator of whether they are learning adequately or not.

The state Department of Education recently released the results of the 2024-25 school year's assessments for the state's more than 2,000 schools, with the average scores for each school in each assessment, from English and math in third grade to the New Jersey Graduation Proficiency Assessment in high school.

Concerns about student performance have been heightened since the pandemic, and while scores decreased for a few years, the 2024-25 assessments showed improvement, according to state officials.

In English/language arts, 53 percent of the students statewide showed proficiency. But math proficiency was 41 percent and science was 27 percent.

To be considered proficient, students need to score above 750 — on a scale of 650 to 850 — on math and English/language arts. The science scale is 100 to 300, with 200 points considered proficient, according to Pearson, the company that handled the testing last year.

For the 2025-26 school year, a new exam is in place, called the New Jersey Student Learning Assessments-Adaptive. The test questions vary based on how students are scoring, NJ.com reported.

The new test is being administered by Cambium Assessment, the report said.

“As students progress through the test, future questions are determined based on their responses, creating a more personalized and appropriate experience for each learner,” the state’s memo to schools said. “This approach can help reduce testing anxiety by presenting students with questions closer to their current level, encouraging confidence and focus," the report said.

How the results of those exams will be presented has not yet been specified, and how they will compare to 2024-25's assessments is unclear.

The searchable chart below includes the average scores of ELA and math assessments for every elementary and middle school that offers the tests in New Jersey, in grades 3 through 8, and science scores in fifth and eighth grades.

High school assessment results will be presented in a separate article.

The statewide averages for each test were as follows: Grade 3 ELA, 742, Math 748; Grade 4 ELA, 749, Math 746; Grade 5 ELA, 750, Math 745, Grade 6 ELA, 751, Math 740; Grade 7 ELA 754, Math 740, Grade 8 ELA 755, Math 720. Science Grade 5, 173, Grade 8, 166.

Scores marked "na" mean the test was not offered or the score was not available. Scores marked with an asterisk were not supplied by the state because the number of students tested was too small, according to the NJDOE.