Official Site of The State of New Jersey

Under the Individuals with Disability Education Act (IDEA), all students with disabilities must be included in all general state and district-wide assessments. IEPs of students with disabilities will address whether the student must meet the passing score on the state assessments or demonstrate proficiency through an alternate pathway. Students with disabilities whose IEPs specify an alternative way to demonstrate proficiencies, will continue to follow the graduation assessment requirements set forth in their IEPs. It is the responsibility of the student’s IEP team to ensure that the IEP is implemented as written, including components addressing state graduation assessment requirements.

IEP teams should reserve the exemption of the statewide assessment graduation requirement for students with significant intellectual disabilities and for students with disabilities who have made repeated unsuccessful attempts to meet statewide assessment requirements through NJGPA-A, a substitute competency test, or a student portfolio appeal. Districts are encouraged to begin convening meetings of the student’s IEP team when the student is in grade 9, or as early as possible. The IEP team includes the student, and the student’s parent(s)/guardian(s) to discuss the student’s specific graduation requirements.

Questions about IEP components concerning graduation assessment requirements should be directed to the Office of Special Education at oseinfo@doe.nj.gov.

Students must take and demonstrate proficiency in grade 11 on the NJGPA-A, which includes content aligned to the grade 10 New Jersey Student Learning Standards (NJSLS) for ELA, and the NJSLS for Algebra 1 and Geometry. If after completing the NJGPA-A a student does not demonstrate proficiency on the ELA or mathematics component, the student may retake the NJGPA-A in the following summer or fall.

A student with disabilities whose IEP states that they are not eligible for the alternate assessment (Dynamic Learning Maps) must take the NJGPA-A in grade 11.

First Pathway—NJGPA

Note: Cut Scores Approved by the New Jersey State Board of Education on August 5, 2026

Note: This pathway is only available to students who completed the NJGPA-A in grade 11.

Students who sat for the NJGPA-A in grade 11 and did not demonstrate proficiency are able to demonstrate proficiency in ELA, mathematics or both by meeting the designated cut score on one of the assessments on the menu of substitute competency tests in the table for the second pathway (below).

Second Pathway – Menu of Substitute Competency Tests

Note: Cut Scores Approved by the New Jersey State Board of Education on August 5, 2026

Important Notes:

• As of 2019, Accuplacer Elementary Algebra is no longer administered. 
• Beginning in fall 2023, the following scores are no longer provided: PSAT Reading, PSAT/NMSQT Reading, PSAT 10 Math, and PSAT/NMSQT Math.
• Beginning in 2024, the SAT Reading score and the SAT Math score are no longer provided.
• For PSAT10, PSAT/NMSQT and SAT, Evidence Based Reading and Writing (EBRW) has been simplified and now uses the naming convention Reading and Writing.

Note: This pathway is only available to students who have a valid score on either the NJGPA or the NJGPA-A.

Students who completed the NJGPA-A in grade 11 and did not demonstrate proficiency are able to demonstrate proficiency in ELA, mathematics or both through a portfolio appeal in grade 12.

Third Pathway—Portfolio Appeals