NJ Delaying Standardized Tests Until Fall​—With Two Exceptions

NEW JERSEY - Governor Phil Murphy said that the majority of students will be taking their standardized tests in the fall in the Garden State, thanks to a waiver granted to them by the Biden Administration.

"Basically allows us to take a test that we were going to administer statewide in the fall, something called Start Strong," Murphy said at the COVID-19 briefing Wednesday.

The fall tests will be a slimmer version of the annual New Jersey Student Learning Assessments, and they used in 2020 with about 90,000 students to gauge learning loss during the COVID-19 pandemic. Murphy noted that the waiver is just for this year.

"I will say this, because it's a one-year, I would fully expect that the spring assessments next year will come back in. The caveat – and I want to make sure I am able to dig into this with the team in the detail I need to be," Murphy said. "The populations that the Start Strong does not work for are both special Ed and English as a second language students. For whatever reason, that particular testing, that particular approach, does not work for those communities."

Murphy said that those communities will most likely be tested in the spring.

"I can't tell you off the top of my head what percentage of kids that represents, but those are two communities that I think will be the exception," he said.

Before you go:

• Send a news tip or correction to: russ.crespolini@patch.com
• Subscribe to your local Patch newsletter.
• Learn more about posting announcements or events to your local Patch site.