National Report Examines States’ Standards

National Report Examines States’ Standards

New Jersey’s public school academic standards have resulted in high marks in a number of benchmarks, according to a data profile for the state by Achieve Inc.

The survey—“Closing the Expectations Gap 2008”—compares states’ efforts to align graduation requirements, standards and assessment with demands to succeed in college and the workforce. The report highlighted a number of accomplishments of New Jersey public schools, including:

In fourth-grade math, 51 percent of New Jersey students ranked at the two highest levels—proficient or advanced proficient—vs. 38 percent of students nationwide in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) tests, also called the “Nation’s Report Card.”
In fourth-grade reading, 43 percent tested at proficient or advanced proficient levels vs. 31 percent nationally.
In the eighth grade, 40 percent of New Jersey students scored at the two highest NAEP levels in math (compared with 31 percent nationally), and 39 percent were proficient or advanced proficient in reading (compared to 29 percent nationally).

The report provided similarly encouraging statistics on high school graduation standards. New Jersey graduates 88 percent of its high school students on time, while nationally only 70 percent of students reach that goal. In addition, 63 percent of high school graduates go on to college, compared with 57 percent of graduates across the country.

Achieve Inc. is a Washington, D.C.-based organization created in 1996 by the nation’s governors and business leaders to help states raise academic standards and strengthen accountability.

Achieve launched the American Diploma Project in 2005, and the group has since annually surveyed states’ efforts to align standards with the demands of college and careers. In last month’s report, Achieve noted that New Jersey was one of just 19 states that aligned high school standards with the college and career-ready expectations in the American Diploma benchmarks. The New Jersey High School Redesign Steering Committee, formed in 2005 and composed of the leadership of New Jersey’s major education organizations, including NJSBA, is continuing to examine the readiness of high school graduates and advocate for academic improvements.