Accountability

The New Jersey Department of Education annually provides academic accountability ratings to its schools and districts. The system helps to identify schools and districts that need support in preparing students for postsecondary success. This ensures equitable access to high-quality education and academic excellence.

New Jersey’s approved ESSA state plan outlines how schools will be identified for support and improvement, how long schools will remain in status, and the exit criteria that will be used to determine whether schools can exit status.

Accountability Data

ESEA Collaborative Monitoring

New Jersey’s ESSA state plan uses the following indicators to annual meaningfully differentiate public schools in New Jersey:

ESSA Required Indicators	New Jersey State Plan Indicators	Weight	Long-Term Goal	Measures of Interim Progress**
Academic Achievement	ELA Proficiency Mathematics Proficiency	30%*	By 2032, 80% of all students will meet or exceed grade-level expectations on statewide assessments in ELA and mathematics	Interim targets were set based on each school’s 2015-16 baseline data to track progress towards meeting the long-term goals by 2032.
Academic Progress (Elementary & Middle Schools)	ELA Growth Mathematics Growth	40%* (ES/MS Only)	Not Applicable	Annual targets are based on a state-defined standard.
Graduation Rate (High Schools)	4-Year Graduation Rate 5-Year Graduation Rate	40%* (HS Only)	By 2032, 95% of all students will graduate high school in four years, and 96% will graduate in five years.	Interim targets were set based on each school’s Cohort 2015 4-Year and Cohort 2014 5-year baseline data to track progress towards meeting the long-term goals by 2032.
Progress Towards English Language Proficiency	Progress towards English Language Proficiency (ELP)	20%	By 2025, 55.5% of multilingual learners will make expected progress toward English language proficiency.	Annual targets are based on the state average for the percentage of multilingual learners who have demonstrated the expected amount of growth on the ACCESS for ELLs assessment.
School Quality or Student Success	Chronic Absenteeism	10%	Not Applicable	Annual targets are based on the statewide average for students in grades served by each school.

*For academic achievement and academic progress, the total weight in the table above is split evenly between ELA and Mathematics. For graduation rate, the total weight in the table above is split evenly between 4-year and 5-year graduation rates. Weights will be adjusted if data is not available for any indicators. See the annual technical guide in the School & District Accountability section below for more details about weighting and adjustments.

**Individual school, district, and student-group level interim targets for academic achievement and graduation rate can be found in the interim target spreadsheets in the School & District Accountability section below.

The NJDOE will identify schools in the following four federal categories every three years:

Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI): Overall Low Performing:

Schools with a summative score in the bottom 5% of Title I schools.

Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI): Low Graduation Rate:

High schools with a four-year graduation rate of 67% or less

Additional Targeted Support and Improvement: Low Performing Student Group (ATSI):

Schools with one or more student groups with a summative score that would be in the bottom 5% of Title I schools

Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI): Chronically Low Performing:

Title I schools identified as Additional Targeted Support and Improvement; Low Performing Student Groups (ATSI) that are identified for three or more consecutive years, i.e. ATSI schools that do not meet exit criteria.
Fall 2023 will the first time the NJDOE identifies school in this category

Annually, NJDOE will identify schools in the following federal category:

Targeted Support and Improvement: Consistently Underperforming Student Group (TSI):
- Schools with one or more student groups that missed annual targets or standards for all indicators for two years in a row

For purposes of ESSA accountability, only schools and student groups with data for 20 or more students are included in calculations.

Exit Criteria for Schools Identified for Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI)

A school in need of comprehensive support and improvement has the opportunity to exit status every three years when the identification methodology is used to identify a new cohort of schools. A school may exit status if:

It no longer has a summative score that is at or below the 5th percentile of Title I schools; and
It demonstrates improved student performance on accountability indicators as compared to student performance at the time of identification for comprehensive support and improvement;
Its four-year graduation rate is above 67 percent, if a high school; and
It successfully implemented its approved comprehensive support and improvement plan as confirmed by NJDOE.

Exit Criteria for Schools Identified for Additional Targeted Support and Improvement for Low Performing Student Groups (ATSI)

A school in need of additional targeted support and improvement for low-performing student groups has the opportunity to exit status every three years when the identification methodology is used to identify a new cohort of schools. A school may exit status if:

It no longer has a student group with a summative score that is at or below the 5th percentile of Title I schools; and
It demonstrates, for the student group for which the school was identified as in need of additional targeted support and improvement, improved student performance on accountability indicators as compared to student performance at the time of identification.

Exit Criteria for Schools Identified for Targeted Support and Improvement for Consistently Underperforming Student Groups (TSI)

A school in need of targeted support and improvement for consistently underperforming student groups has the opportunity to exit status every year. A school may exit status if it no longer has a student group that both:

Misses interim targets for all available indicators for two consecutive years; and
Performs below the State average for all available indicators for two consecutive years.

Important Update for 2021-2022

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, New Jersey received waivers from the United States Department of Education in both March 2020 and March 2021 that waived accountability-related requirements under ESSA for the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 school years.

As a result, the timeline by which schools are eligible to exit status has been shifted by two years. Any school that was identified for comprehensive or targeted support and improvement during the 2019-2020 school year will retain the same status for the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 school years and continue to receive support and interventions from the NJDOE. All schools will be eligible to exit status at the end of the 2022-2023 school if exit criteria are met.

Additionally, to determine if schools identified for TSI status will be eligible to exit, the NJDOE will review data for the 2018-2019 and 2021-2022 school years since two consecutive years of data are not available for all indicators.

For more information on approved waivers to the New Jersey State ESSA plan, see our ESSA state plan webpage.