Dear Parents, Guardians and Members of the School Community,
I am writing to provide you information about the 2021-2022 New Jersey School Performance Reports, which were recently released and are available on the NJ School Performance Reports webpage at www.njschooldata.org.
The School Performance Reports reflect the New Jersey Department of Education’s (NJDOE) commitment to providing parents, students and school communities with a large variety of information about each school and district. These reports can be used as a tool to help evaluate whether all students have equitable access to high quality education. We encourage you to use these reports to:
• Learn more about your school and district
• Start conversations with school community members and ask questions
• Engage with school communities to identify what schools are doing well and where they can improve
The 2021-2022 School Performance Reports include nearly all data that was previously reported prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, such as assessment results and accountability data. However, the 2021-2022 reports will not include student growth data as measured by median student growth percentiles (mSGPs). This is because individual student growth percentiles (SGPs) were not calculated for the 2021-2022 school year due to lack of prior year test results for the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 school years. The student growth section of the reports will include a link to an alternate measure of academic progress that was used for accountability determinations for the 2021-2022 school year. The NJDOE plans to resume reporting mSGPs for the 2022-2023 school year.
The NJDOE believes that it is critical to use the data in the reports, along with other information collected directly within districts and communities, to start conversations, identify gaps in information, and continue to find ways to address the impacts of COVID-19 and ensure all students receive the support and resources that they need. The School Performance Reports can and should be used in conjunction with available school and district data to identify priorities for upcoming year planning and the use of state and federal dollars. As data over the last three years was impacted by the pandemic in various ways, the NJDOE does recommend caution in comparing data from year to year.
What’s New in the 2021-2022 School Performance Reports
The focus of the 2021-2022 reports was to resume reporting all assessment and accountability data. This will be the first time since the 2018-2019 reports that the following data will be included in the School Performance Reports:
• English language arts, mathematics, and science assessment results
• English language progress toward proficiency
• ESSA accountability indicators, updated status, and progress toward meeting long-term goals
The NJDOE continues to seek public input on ways to improve future reports. Please complete the School Performance Report feedback survey or email [email protected] with feedback and suggestions.
Thank you,
Dr. Tara Beams
