New Jersey Statewide Minimum Standards: Results from the Program's First Year. Occasional Papers in Education

In 1976, New Jersey public law established uniform statewide minimum standards in the basic communication and computational skills for publicly educated students in the state. To implement the law for the year 1976-77, the New Jersey Educational Assessment Program administered tests to all fourth, seventh, and tenth grade students. These tests were used as the indicator of minimum basic skills proficiency. Students who did not correctly answer at least 65% of the test items did not satisfy the minimum proficiency requirement in that subject. Statewide, 90.4% of the fourth grade students met or exceeded the minimum standard on the reading test. In fourth grade mathematics, 72.1% of the students surpassed the minimum standard. In seventh grade, 74.2% of the students exceeded the statewide proficiency level in reading, while 60.4% did so in mathematics. Tenth grade results indicated that 77% of the students met the statewide criterion in reading, while 74% did so in mathematics. More students from higher socioeconomis status districts surpassed the minimum proficiency level than did students from lower socioeconomic categories. Also, more students from suburban and regional school districts exceeded the minimum level than did students from urban and rural districts. Behavioral objectives for reading and mathematics in the three grade levels are appended. (Author/MV)