The New Jersey Department of Education announced in an advisory the opening of the embargo period for local educational agency and school leads to access and review their 2022 Every Student Succeeds Act Accountability Profiles.
The profiles show whether student groups in each school and LEA met annual ESSA accountability targets and standards for each indicator. Several enhancements were made to the profiles this year, including:
- Transforming the static, one-page PDF report into a dynamic data dashboard with a separate tab for each accountability indicator.
- Adding an “overview” tab that provides an accountability summary for each indicator and student group.
- Including explanatory text and graphics to facilitate interpretation.
- Ensuring consistency in terminology between the accountability profiles and the School Performance Reports.
Accessing and Using the Profiles
The 2022 ESSA Accountability Profiles may be accessed through the ESSA Data folder in NJDOE Homeroom.
All information contained in the 2022 ESSA accountability profiles is embargoed. Therefore, the information contained in the profiles may not be shared with the media or the public until it is released by the NJDOE in the 2021-2022 School Performance Reports.
To learn more about accessing and using the profiles, refer to the full advisory.
Student-Level Data Spreadsheets
The NJDOE also provided student-level data for the progress toward English language proficiency and academic achievement indicators. These spreadsheets can be found in the same NJDOE Homeroom folder as the profiles. LEA and school administrators will have access to two spreadsheets, one for ELP student-level data and one for assessment data. There is a separate glossary for each file that explains the data included in the spreadsheets.
LEAs may also access student-level graduation data through NJ SMART using district reports. Administrators should review the High School Graduation Cohort Status Profile filtered for accountable school, federal calculation, and the Aug. 31, 2021, snapshot for the 2021 cohort (four-year graduation rate) and the 2020 cohort (five-year graduation rate).
Reviewing the ESSA Accountability Profiles
It is critical for LEA and school leadership and data teams to review the ESSA Accountability Profiles to ensure that the data are correct. LEAs must use the appeals process to correct any suspected errors.
The NJDOE will only accept appeals related to its calculation of the data. Appeals to amend the LEA-submitted data used in the accountability calculations (e.g., chronic absenteeism, graduation rate data) will not be considered as the deadlines for LEAs to review and correct those data have passed.
The appeals process is outlined in detail in the full advisory.
The ESSA accountability system was designed, in consultation with numerous stakeholders and detailed in New Jersey’s approved ESSA State Plan, to assist schools and districts in preparing their students for postsecondary success. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the NJDOE received approval from the United States Department of Education through the COVID-19 State Plan Addendum to make changes to the accountability system for the 2021-2022 school year. These changes were outlined in an Oct. 5 broadcast memo.