Results from 2022 state assessments show that Montclair students’ test scores have fallen, compared to 2019, across grade levels and academic disciplines. 

And certain groups of students — Blacks and Hispanics, those classified as economically disadvantaged and students in special education programs — have seen the largest drops. 

The Montclair school district’s department of equity, curriculum and instruction presented the 2022 New Jersey Student Learning Assessment results Monday, Nov. 14, at a Board of Education meeting, explaining the challenges students faced returning to in-person learning in 2021, disparities in achievement rates and plans to address the gaps. 

Declining test scores and learning loss during the pandemic are not unique to Montclair. Students in New Jersey scored significantly lower in reading and math during the pandemic than in past years, though the state did score higher than the national average, according to the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics. 

Only a third of the state’s eighth graders were proficient in math, compared with 26% nationwide. The average score dropped from 292 out of a possible score of 500 in 2019 to 281 in 2022. Only 39% of New Jersey’s fourth grade students were proficient in 2022, compared with 35% nationally. Their average score dropped from 246 to 239 since 2019.

The pandemic significantly affected instruction at all grade levels, Kalisha Morgan, assistant superintendent for equity, curriculum and instruction, said. 

Schools pivoted to remote learning in March 2020, and students didn’t return to full-time, in-person learning in the district until September 2021. But when students returned, many COVID protocols — masking, social distancing, quarantines — remained in place, impacting the learning environment, Morgan said. 

And when the students returned, the district was focused on more than just academic achievement, she said. 

“Our students and our staff suffered through trauma through the pandemic,” she said. “We definitely needed to pause in order to focus on social emotional learning.”

Combined with additional factors — staffing shortages, prioritizing health and safety in schools, students transferring in and out of the district — the 2021-2022 school year was singularly challenging. 

State testing over the past five years has been inconsistent. In spring 2018, all students in ninth through eleventh grade completed the English language arts (ELA) assessment and math end-of-course tests for algebra 1, algebra 2 and geometry. In spring 2019, the state canceled all testing for juniors, and Montclair High School only held testing for tenth grade English language arts and algebra 1, as the collapse of a building stairwell impacted classroom locations and instructional times. 

In spring 2020 and 2021, the state Department of Education canceled statewide assessments due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

In spring 2022, the state required ninth grade students to complete the ELA assessment, ninth and tenth grade graders to complete the tests for algebra 1, algebra 2 and geometry, and eleventh graders to complete a science assessment.

Eleventh graders were also required to complete the New Jersey Graduation Proficiency Assessment for ELA and math. 

ELA Results

In ELA assessments since 2018, on average, 65% of district students have passed, Marcos Vargas, director of humanities (K-12), said at the Monday meeting. The state classifies test results as the percentage of students meeting or exceeding expectations, its term for passing the assessment, Vargas said. In 2021-22, there was an average drop of about 5% or less in passage rates across all grades, he said. 

Montclair outperformed the state averages in all grades but one in the 2022 ELA assessment. Montclair’s average for ninth grade students was 46%, compared to the state average of 49%. The elementary school grades most outperformed the state levels, with 66% of Montclair third graders passing the assessment, compared with 42% statewide, 70% of fourth graders passing, compared with 49% statewide, and 72% of fifth graders passing, as opposed to 50% statewide.

The passage rate for ninth graders dropped from 62% during the 2017-2018 school year to 46% during the 2021-22 year, which Vargas attributes to “inconsistent administration of the test.”

Elementary school passage rates show a slight increase between the 2018-2019 year and the 2021-2022 year, though rates for fourth and fifth graders have dropped overall since the 2017-2018 year. 

Middle school passage rates have dropped by about 5% across all grades between 2018-2019 and 2021-2022. 

When looking at the results, it becomes clear that certain groups of students — economically disadvantaged students, students in the special education program and Black and Hispanic students — have continued to pass at substantially lower rates than their counterparts. 

Economically disadvantaged students, those eligible for free or reduced lunch, underperformed students who are not economically disadvantaged by nearly 40% in the 2022 ELA assessment, across all grade levels. On average, the gap is smaller than it was in 2019, but only by about 5 percentage points. 

“There is a visible gap between the performance within our district of those who are not economically disadvantaged against those who are economically disadvantaged,” Vargas said.

In 2022 assessments, 38% of elementary school students classified as economically disadvantaged passed the ELA assessment; 74% of students classified as not economically disadvantaged passed.

In the 2022 middle school ELA assessment, 24% of elementary school students classified as economically disadvantaged passed, while 67% of students classified as not economically disadvantaged passed.

At the high school, 19% of economically disadvantaged students passed while 51% of not economically disadvantaged passed. 

Students with active Individualized Education Plans, or 504s, accommodation plans for students, passed the 2022 ELA assessment at an average rate of about 27%. That’s down from a 39% passage rate in 2019. While the elementary and middle school data show small drops since 2019, the high school shows a significant drop. In 2019, 48% of students with IEP or 504 plans passed. In 2022, only 19% passed. 

A breakdown of results by race and ethnicity shows that Black or African American and Hispanic or Latino students have consistently underperformed their Asian and white classmates, as well  as students who identify as multiple categories. 

In 2019, elementary ELA assessment data showed 44% of Black or African American students, 60% of Hispanic or Latino students, 69% of Asian students, 70% of multiple category students, and 79% of white students passed. 

In 2022, 50% of Black or African American students, 59% of Hispanic or Latino students, 77% of Asian students, 76% of multiple category students, and 76% of white students passed. 

Middle school 2019 ELA assessment data shows 41% of Black or African American students, 52% of Hispanic or Latino students, 86% of Asian, 75% of multiple category students, and 77% of white students passed. 

In 2022, 31% of Black or African American students, 49% of Hispanic or Latino students, 78% of Asian students, 67% of multiple category students, and 74% of white students passed. 

At the high school, 48% of Black or African American students, 63% of Hispanic or Latino students, 87% of Asian students, 88% of multiple category students, and 89% of white students passed the 2019 ELA assessment. 

In 2022, 27% of Black or African American students, 34% of Hispanic or Latino students, 72% of Asian students, 63% of multiple category students, and 55% of white students passed. 

The achievement gap is “really upsetting,” parent Obie Miranda-Woodley said at the meeting.

“Probably one of my kids who is Black and Latino is in this part of this statistic. I hope that we can do better.”

Math Results

Since 2018, the average passage percentage for elementary school student achievement in math remains around 65%, with a small difference after remote and hybrid instruction, Jennifer Goforth, director of STEM (K-12), said at the Monday board meeting.

The middle school passage rates have declined since 2017, averaging around 50% before the pandemic and under 40% in 2022. The high school level data show some inequities, as the students who were given the assessments changed year to year, Goforth said.

The geometry passage rate jumps from 38% during the 2017-2018 year to 80% during the 2018-2019 year because that year, the assessment was given only to advanced middle school students taking the course and not high school students. The rate drops to 24% for the 2021-2022 year. 

The data for the 2018-2019 algebra 2 assessment is missing, since students were not given that exam that year, due to the stairwell collapse. The passage rate in 2017-2018 was 49%; it was down to 46% in 2021-2022.

The algebra 1 data show a steady decline, with the passage rate cut in half since 2017-2018. In 2017-2018, 48% of students passed the algebra 1 assessment. In 2018-2019, 45% of students passed. In 2021-2022, only 24% of students passed. 

Montclair passage rates for math assessments remain above the state level for elementary and middle school students, but high school students have fallen behind. 24% of Montclair students passed the algebra 1 assessment, as opposed to 35% across the state. 24% of Montclair students passed the algebra 2 assessment, as opposed to 45% across the state. And 46% of Montclair students passed the geometry assessment, as opposed to 58% across the state. 

Goforth reminded the board that Montclair offers algebra 1 to middle school students, while many districts offer it only in high school. 

“We are one of the few districts in New Jersey that continue to accelerate our students across the board in middle school and provide them the opportunity to take accelerated math in high school,” she said.

Math passage rates of economically disadvantaged students were far below those of not economically disadvantaged students in 2022, and lower at all grade levels than they were in 2019. 

In the 2022 elementary math assessment, 23% of elementary school students classified as economically disadvantaged passed while 68% those classified as not economically disadvantaged passed.

In the middle school math assessment, 10% of students classified as economically disadvantaged passed while 42% of students classified as not economically disadvantaged passed.

And at the high school, only 7% of students classified as economically disadvantaged passed the math exam, while 30% of students classified as not economically disadvantaged passed.

The passage rate for economically disadvantaged students has dropped by about 4% since 2019.

The gap between math passage rates for students in special education versus general education has continued since 2019, but the passage rates for special education have increased for elementary and high school students. 

At the elementary level, 35% of students in special education passed the 2022 assessment, while 69% of general education students passed. 17% of middle school students in special education passed, as opposed to 44% in general education. And 14% of high school students in special education passed, compared to 31% in general education. 

And while the middle school passage for students in special education has dropped from 24% to 17% since 2019, the rate for elementary students increased by 1% and the rate for high school students increased by 5%. 

The math data again show that Black or African American students and Hispanic or Latino students underperformed their counterparts.  

In 2019, elementary math assessment data showed 39% of Black or African American students, 57% of Hispanic or Latino students, 76% of Asian students, 76% of multiple category students, and 64% of white students passed. 

In 2022, 34% of Black or African American students, 43% of Hispanic or Latino students, 74% of Asian students, 85% of multiple category students, and 67% of white students passed. 

In 2019, middle school data showed 22% of Black or African American students, 35% of Hispanic or Latino students, 63% of Asian students, 72% of multiple category students, and 60% of white students passed. 

In 2022, 15% of Black or African American students, 23% of Hispanic or Latino students, 47% of Asian students, 60% of multiple category students, and 40% of white students passed. 

At the high school level, only 1% of Black or African American students, 21% of Hispanic or Latino students, 36% of Asian students, 40% of students who identified in multiple categories, and 20% of white students passed the 2019 math assessment.

The 2019 assessment at Montclair High School took place after the stairwell collapse, when students and teachers were displaced from classrooms and schedules were reworked to fit around construction.

In 2022, 12% of Black or African American students, 18% of Hispanic or Latino students, 33% of Asian students, 35% of multiple category students, and 33% of white students passed. 

Marcella Simadiris said that she was “very frustrated” watching the presentation on the assessment data and that the gap in math was “ridiculous.”

“It's just amazing to sit here and watch the same thing for 10 years and nothing changes,” Simadiris said. “I sit here and I promise you, I feel like throwing up.”

Programs and community partnerships the district has worked on in the past have not been successful, she said.

Other Results

The 2022 science assessment was broken up into testing at three grade levels — the fifth grade assessment covered grades three through five standards, the eighth grade assessment covered grades six through eight standards, and the eleventh grade assessment covered grades nine through eleven standards. 

Because of changes to the assessment and the pandemic, the 2022 data will be the first set to be used for accountability purposes, Goforth said. 

But Montclair students did exceed the state levels across the board. 48% of Montclair fifth graders passed the science assessment, while only 26% of fifth graders passed statewide. 20% of eighth grade students passed, while only 16% passed statewide. And 42% of high school students passed, while only 29% did statewide. 

In the New Jersey Graduation Proficiency Assessment for ELA and math, taken by eleventh grade students, Montclair exceeded the state rates. In ELA, 51.5% of Montclair students passed, compared to 39.4% at the state level. On the math assessment, 63.6% of Montclair students passed, compared to 49.5% at the state level. 

English language learners in the district are required to take the Access for English Language Learner test, across all grade levels. The assessment measures listening, reading, speaking and writing and provides a score from one to six measuring English proficiency. A score of 4.5 is used as the benchmark, Vicky Chang, supervisor of World Language & ESL, said. 

The district’s English language learner population has grown substantially over the past few years, up 120% during the 2021-2022 year, Chang said. 

53% of ELL students received a 4 or higher in listening, 26% received a 4 or higher in reading, 12% received a 4 or higher in speaking, and 3% received a 4 or higher in writing.

“It was really disheartening to see us falling behind state averages,” board member Eric Scherzer said. “I don't think that's where we want to be.” 

Moving Forward

To address the gaps, the district is implementing data-driven professional learning communities, an opportunity for staff to come together to discuss students and learning opportunities, Morgan said. 

“We know we have a lot of data, but we really need to look at individual students and what their needs are,” she said. “We want to be sure that we are providing students with an opportunity to be successful.”

Another part of the plan — extended learning opportunities — revolves around instruction outside of the regular school day, through programs such as after-school tutoring run by the Montclair Neighborhood Development Corp. and summer classes.

But drumming up excitement for the programs and finding staffing for them is an ongoing challenge, she said. 

While the tutoring program is currently open to all students at four schools in the district, participation is low, Morgan said. It has grown week to week, but district staff continues to try to recruit new students to the program.

Another part of the plan is focusing on professional development across all curriculum areas, to hone in on what development is needed to better help the students falling behind. The district will also continue to review curriculum and instruction materials.