The New Jersey State Board of Education commenced its 2026-2027 session on July 1, 2026, discussing the topics below. A recording of the meeting can be found on the New Jersey Department of Education’s YouTube page.

Officer Elections

Following the nomination of candidates at its June 2026 meeting, and in accordance with N.J.S.A. 18A:4-8, the State Board conducted its election of officers for the 2026-2027 session. Kathy Goldenberg was re-elected President, and Mary Bennett was elected Vice President.

President Goldenberg (Moorestown, Burlington County) was appointed to the State Board in 2017, served as Vice President from 2018 to 2019, and has served as President since 2019. Prior to her appointment, she served the Moorestown Board of Education for 10 years (2007-2017), including four years as Vice President (2011-2015) and two years as President (2015-2017). Her more than two decades of public service have included roles in the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, NJSBA Legislative Committee, Moorestown Education Foundation, Garden State Coalition of Schools, Moorestown Home and School Association, and Moorestown Breakfast Rotary.

Vice President Bennett (Irvington, Essex County) was appointed to the State Board in 2024 and has spent more than 50 years serving New Jersey’s public education system. She started as an ELA teacher in Newark’s Barringer High School in 1973 and went on to serve the district in various roles, including Vice Principal of West Side High School, Program Director, and Vice Principal and Principal of Malcolm X Shabazz High School. She’s held various instructional and leadership roles in higher education and nonprofit sectors, including Senior Fellow/Lead Facilitator of the National Center for Urban Partnerships at Bronx Community College, Executive Director of Project GRAD (Graduation Really Achieves Dreams) in Newark, and adjunct faculty positions at Montclair State University and Seton Hall University.

“I congratulate Kathy Goldenberg on her re-election as president of the State Board and am excited to continue our incredible partnership. Her decade of service on the Moorestown Township Board of Education, followed by her years of steady leadership on the State Board, will continue to serve New Jersey’s students well,” said Dr. Timothy Purnell, executive director and CEO of the New Jersey School Boards Association. “I am equally pleased to see Mary Bennett elected as vice president. She has devoted more than 50 years to public education as a teacher, principal, and higher education leader, and her deep experience in our schools will be a tremendous asset. On behalf of the NJSBA, I congratulate them both and look forward to continuing our strong partnership with the State Board to advance the achievement of all students.”

President’s Reports

In her monthly reports, President Goldenberg provided updates on:

  • New Jersey Preschool Teaching and Learning Standards (NJPTLS) and the New Jersey Student Learning Standards (NJSLS) Public Hearings: As announced in May, regional hearings on the Department’s draft revisions to the NJPTLS and corrections to the revised NJSLS in certain content areas (Career Readiness, Life Literacies and Key Skills; Computer Science and Design Thinking; World Languages; and Visual and Performing Arts) concluded with the central regional hearing on July 1. Written comments may be submitted through July 31, 2026. For additional information, see the State Board of Education homepage.
  • Introduction of New Student Representative: President Goldenberg introduced the State Board’s Student Representative for the 2026-2027 session, Emilia Reynolds, a rising junior at Collingswood High School. The Board’s student representative is elected annually by the New Jersey Association of Student Councils.
    • In her remarks, Student Representative Reynolds detailed her mission to “provide a perspective that reflects the needs and concerns of the students of New Jersey, a diverse and multifaceted community.” She noted that in her reports, she hopes to “highlight areas where equity needs improvement in the New Jersey public education system, and celebrate the strides that schools are making to give students the support they need to thrive.”

Commissioner’s Reports

In her reports, Commissioner Laux provided updates on:

  • Literacy: As part of an ongoing series of periodic conversations on literacy, Commissioner Laux provided a brief summary of the Department’s efforts to leverage reading comprehension research to support schools in providing evidence-based literacy instruction.
  • Adaptive Assessment Standard Setting: The NJDOE gave a presentation [JY1] to “familiarize the Board with the standard setting process that follows the introduction of New Jersey’s new adaptive assessments” – the NJGPA-A and NJSLA-A. In her report, the Commissioner previewed that “in the coming months, this Board is going to be asked to adopt recommended cut scores for these assessments, and we want to make sure that everyone understands how these recommendations are developed.”

    The presentation detailed the standard-setting process and, notably, the impact of standard-setting and other first-time administration procedures on the timeline for reporting results of the spring 2026 NJGPA-A and NJSLA-A. “Since standard setting must be completed on the first administration of a new assessment, reporting of results will take a bit longer, but only for the spring 2026 administration. Results will be released much faster beginning in the 2026-2027 school year,” the presentation said. Specifically, the NJDOE anticipates that fall 2026 NJGPA-A results will be returned to districts “before winter break,” and spring 2027 NJSLA-A results will be provided to districts “by June 30, 2027.”

Certification of School Districts

Since the June State Board meeting, the Department has finalized three NJQSAC interim reviews and 41 full reviews. 26 of these districts were recommended for certification as high-performing.

Updated Test and Cut Score – Praxis II Middle School Social Studies

Following their initial discussion of the matter last month, in July, the State Board adopted a new test and cut score for the Praxis II Middle School Social Studies. The Board adopted the ETS-recommended cut score of 149 for the test, effective September 1, 2026.