Preliminary NJ test results show math, reading struggles in grades 3-9
This story was originally published by NJ Spotlight News through the NJ News Wire . More than half of New Jersey third graders are not meeting literacy standards, and an overwhelming majority of eighth graders are not hitting math standards, signaling that…
According to preliminary results from New Jersey's 2026 Student Learning Assessments-Adaptive, a significant number of students in grades 3-9 are struggling with math and reading. More than half of third graders did not meet literacy standards, and the majority of eighth graders failed to achieve math standards. The delay in releasing the results, approximately five months, is one of the longest in recent years, causing a setback in providing targeted support to students.
The New Jersey Department of Education cautions against comparing these results to previous years, emphasizing that the new assessment framework requires a distinct starting point for evaluation. The results also highlight a major drop in Algebra 2 proficiency rates, from 80.4% in 2025 to 45.5% in 2026, likely due to a smaller pool of students taking the assessment and the increased complexity of the subject matter.
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