New Jersey Standards, Assessments, and Curricula: General Information and Resources
New Jersey Standards
The New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards were first adopted by the State Board of Education in 1996. The standards describe what students should know and be able to do upon completion of a thirteen-year public education. Revised every five years, the standards provide local school districts with specific benchmarks for student achievement in nine content areas, among them:
New Jersey's Assessments
The Office of Evaluation and Assessment (OEA) coordinates the development and implementation of New Jersey's statewide assessment program, which is designed to measure the extent to which all students at the elementary-, middle- and secondary-school levels have attained New Jersey's Core Curriculum Content Standards. New Jersey's statewide assessment program currently includes three major components:
- Elementary school: New Jersey Assessment of Skills and Knowledge (NJ ASK), administered in grades 3 and 4;
- Middle school: Grade Eight Proficiency Assessment (GEPA), administered in grade 8; and
- High school: High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA), administered in grade 11.
The statewide assessment program currently includes three additional tests:
- Alternate Proficiency Assessment (APA), for students with severe disabilities;
- High School Proficiency Test (HSPT11), for adult high school and returning students. The final HSPT 11 will be administered in spring 2004; and
- Special Review Assessment (SRA), for students who have not demonstrated proficiency in one or more content areas of the HSPA.
New Jersey Curricula/Professional Development
The New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) does not produce recommended or voluntary state curriculums. However, each content area curriculum department does provide Curriculum Frameworks for each content area.
· Curriculum Frameworks for Language Arts/Literacy
· Curriculum Frameworks for Math
· Curriculum Frameworks for Science
· Curriculum Frameworks for Technology
Professional Development Opportunities