Official Site of The State of New Jersey

What are the new statewide assessments?

The New Jersey Student Learning Assessments-Adaptive (NJSLA-A) and New Jersey Graduation Proficiency Assessment-Adaptive (NJGPA-A) are New Jersey’s updated platform for measuring student learning, supporting instructional improvement, and meeting State and federal assessment requirements.

Why is the State implementing a new assessment?

New Jersey has implemented new adaptive assessments to provide a more personalized testing experience for students, more timely data, and to align the assessments more closely with the 2023 New Jersey Student Learning Standards (NJSLS) for English Language Arts (ELA) and Mathematics.

What accommodations are available to students for the spring 2026 NJSLA-A and NJGPA-A administrations?

Students will have access to a variety of digital tools and accommodations, including:

• American Sign Language
• Braille
• Extended time
• Highlighting and digital notetaking
• Paper versions of the assessment
• Text-to-speech
• Zoom/magnification

The accommodations available on the new test are consistent with those used on prior NJSLA and NJGPA tests.

A list and description of the available accommodations (referred to as Testing Attributes) for the spring NJSLA-A and NJGPA-A can be found in the Testing Attributes Reference Manual (TARM) posted on the the New Jersey Assessments Portal Resources page. The document can be found by searching “attributes” in the search bar on the webpage.

How will the test be presented to my student who requires the American Sign Language (ASL) accommodation?

For the Spring 2026 NJGPA-A and NJSLA-A administration students with the ASL accommodation will be able to open and play an embedded ASL video for all aspects of each of the items on the non-adaptive accommodated form. This accommodation is consistent with what students experienced in New Jersey’s prior statewide assessments.

What is an adaptive test, and what are the benefits to students?

A computer-adaptive test (CAT) is an assessment tool that determines future questions based on a student's responses to prior questions, creating a more personalized experience for each learner. This approach can help reduce testing anxiety by presenting students with questions closer to their current level, encouraging confidence and focus. An adaptive assessment measures each student’s knowledge with greater precision since the students will receive more items closer to their current level.

Many students have participated in adaptive testing. While they have been used for a different purpose, the NWEA Maps and iReady assessments are just two that you may be familiar with.

How do I know the test is fair if students don’t see the same questions?

Even though students don’t see the same questions, an adaptive test is fair because:

• Everyone is tested on the same standards.
• The test difficulty adjusts, but the content does not.
• Only grade-level items count toward the score.
• All items are pretested and calibrated.

Can seniors in the class of 2026 sit for the NJGPA-A this spring?

No, the Spring 2026 administration of the NJGPA-Adaptive is available only to grade 11 students. Students participating in the NJGPA-A in the spring of 2026 will not receive results until after the performance level standard setting procedures are concluded and the State Board of Education adopts cut scores for the new assessment. When factoring in the deliberative and time-intensive performance level standard setting activities and the current adoption process, it is possible that students will not receive their scores until the fall. Students who complete their graduation requirements after August 31, 2026 are considered to be in the cohort for the Class of 2027.

Districts were informed of these circumstances in the August 13, 2025 broadcast that stated, “All grade twelve students who do not have a valid score on one or both components of the NJGPA must test during this fall 2025 administration.”

Please refer to the following documents for more information:

• Fall 2025 New Jersey Graduation Proficiency Assessment Key Dates and Information
• Graduation Assessment Requirements for the Class of 2026

How will a student who entered New Jersey after the fall NJGPA administration satisfy their graduation assessment requirement?

Students who entered the State after the fall 2025 administration of the NJGPA may satisfy their graduation assessment requirement through the second pathway (menu of alternate assessments) and third pathway (Portfolio Appeal Process). 

Please refer to the following documents for more information:

• Fall 2025 New Jersey Graduation Proficiency Assessment Key Dates and Information
• Graduation Assessment Requirements for the Class of 2026

With the changing of the statewide assessments, will median Student Growth Percentiles (mSGP) still be calculated for the 2025-2026 school year?

Yes, mSGP can be calculated regardless of the assessment administered since Student Growth Percentiles (SGPs) measure a student’s relative growth on the assessment over the past year(s) compared to the student’s “academic peers.” A student’s “academic peers” refers to all other students in New Jersey in the same grade and assessment subject who had similar historical assessment results.

SGPs range from 1 to 99, higher numbers represent greater growth, and lower numbers represent lesser growth. If the student’s growth percentile is 80, it means that the student scored better than 80 percent of the student’s academic peers on this year’s NJSLA—ELA. Because students are only compared with other students who performed similarly in the past, all students, regardless of their scale scores, can demonstrate high or low growth. Please refer to the information on the NJDOE’s Educator Evaluation Median Student Growth Percentiles webpage.

Who is required to participate in the NJSLA-A?

All public school students in required tested grades, including students with disabilities and multilingual learners, consistent with State and federal regulations.

Who is required to participate in the NJGPA-A?

The NJGPA-A is launching for students in the Class of 2027. Students first participate in their junior year (Grade 11). Participation in the NJGPA-A is required to satisfy the graduation assessment requirement. Students who are not successful in demonstrating graduation readiness on the assessment may utilize the second pathway (menu of alternate assessments) or third pathway (Portfolio Appeals Process) to satisfy their graduation assessment requirement. Please see the Graduation Assessment Requirements website for more information.

What is the purpose of standard setting?

Standards setting is the technical process of determining thresholds for student performance levels, so families and educators can understand whether students are meeting grade-level learning expectations. Educators review and analyze test questions in order to categorize student performance meaningfully and consistently under the supervision of psychometric experts. This process ensures that results are fair and consistent across the State. A standard setting is not a yearly event and only occurs when major changes are made to a test, or a new test is implemented.

How much time do students need to complete the test?

After reviewing the results of the fall field test, the testing times for Spring 2026 NJSLA-A and NJGPA-A are as shown on the NJGPA-A and NJSLA-A Units Testing Times for ELA and Mathematics page. The unit/session times do not include the recommended 25 to 30 minutes for logging students on, reading directions to students from the test administrator script, and logging students off.

How will the NJSLA-A and NJGPA-A be administered?

Each test will consist of three units:

• ELA-Reading
• ELA-Writing
• Mathematics

Both the ELA-Reading and Mathematics units will be administered in two sessions while the ELA-Writing will be administered in a single session.

What content will the NJSLA-A and NJGPA-A tests include? How many questions will each student see?

The blueprints for the NJGPA-A and NJSLA-A provide information on the structure and content of the assessments. To view the blueprints for ELA and Mathematics, please refer to the NJSLA-Adaptive and NJGPA-Adaptive Blueprints for ELA and Mathematics.