State school officials preparing new proficiency exam

State education officials are working to launch a new computerized student proficiency exam that could be implemented as early as next year, Education Commissioner Kevin Dehmer told the Assembly Budget Committee Monday.

Dehmer told the budget panel he expects the department to begin implementing the new assessment in the spring of 2026, adding that its electronic nature will allow for speedier data analysis that could help educators address underperformance on specific topics and subjects.

“One of the big things is we’re able to gain more information with less seat time, and because of the accessibility of data, we can translate that back so that teachers can focus on core areas for students so they understand where students might be struggling,” he said.

The electronic test, referred to only as “next-gen” or the “next generation assessment” Monday, could also be tailored to student performance, allowing more advanced students to tackle tougher questions.

Less advanced students could see simpler questions, Dehmer said, to better identify areas in need of improvement.

“Maybe it’s with a certain teacher. It comes out they didn’t emphasize something enough, they can go back and change how they’re doing things to make sure students are picking that subject matter up a little bit better,” the commissioner said.

The changes would come as schools are fighting to overcome learning losses incurred during the pandemic.

Results from the New Jersey Student Learning Assessment released in December showed some improvement in math and English test scores, but proficiency continued to lag behind prepandemic levels in both subjects.

That year, 52% of tested students met or exceeded expectations on the English language arts exam, compared to 58% in 2019, while 40% met or exceeded expectations on the math assessment, compared to 45% five years earlier.

School funding

Some committee member raised concerns about proposed changes to the state’s school funding formula that would allow and incentivize districts raising too little locally to seek higher property tax increases to meet their fair share — the portion of funding a school district is responsible for raising through property taxes.

“Our fear … is that we allow that to happen just for one year, which was last year, and then this kind of opens the gate to something else that we really don’t have control of, of how much a district may be able to raise. It puts us in a precarious position,” said Assemblywoman Eliana Pintor Marin (D-Essex), the panel’s chair.

As lawmakers move to finalize a new state budget by June 30, Gov. Phil Murphy has proposed a $20 million pool of funding to encourage districts taxing beneath their local fair share to seek tax increases above the state’s 2% cap on property tax growth. Murphy also wants to limit decreases in state aid to 3% and increases to 6%.

Under budget language proposed by the administration, districts that raise taxes above the 2% cap would receive $1 million or 5% of the tax increase that fell above the cap, whichever is less.

In recent weeks, some school districts have proposed staggering property tax increases, but Dehmer, speaking generally, said such plans could overstate the level of tax increases a district would eventually seek.

“What they chose to do was say, ‘We’re going to pass a resolution for the maximum amount, and we’re going to work through this from there,’” Dehmer said. “I think there was some reporting on those resolutions saying, ‘We’re going to go up this high,’ and that may not be the final version that comes to pass.”