Here are four takeaways from the N.J. School Performance Reports

The New Jersey Department of Education released its annual School Performance Report for the 2021-22 school year this week, showing evidence that many students were still experiencing significant struggles a year after the pandemic began.

The report was posted on the department’s website Wednesday after a presentation by acting Education Commissioner Angelica Allen-McMillan and her team to the state Board of Education.

“While this data does not fully capture the unique circumstances and efforts of each school community,” Allen-McMillan said in a statement, “these reports are one important tool that can be used to identify successes and challenges, engage in dialogue, and work collectively toward improving the education and supports provided to all students.”

The report includes a variety of achievement measures, including SAT, PSAT and ACT test scores, dual enrollment and Advanced Placement course participation, dropout rates, enrollment, and discipline statistics, available at www.njschooldata.org. Here are some notable takeaways from the report.

Chronic absenteeism, defined as missing 10% or more of the school year, remains a problem statewide, with about 28% of New Jersey’s 1.4 million public students chronically absent for the 2021-22 school year. The state said the rates may have been a result of students staying home because of sickness or exposure to COVID-19.

Three South Jersey districts — Camden City, KIPP Cooper Norcross, and Camden Prep — all had chronic absentee rates of 66% or higher. (Camden City was among the last districts in the region to fully reopen in the 2020-21 school year, and its high schools stayed remote.)

The report found that 63 of 79 districts with 500 students or more had rates that increased since the year before, a disturbing sign that the impact of the pandemic had not subsided in some areas. For example, absenteeism in the Delsea Regional school system in Gloucester County jumped from 15.3% in 2020-21 to 29.3% in 2021-22, ranking eighth in chronic absenteeism.

Elsewhere in the region, Lindenwold, Paulsboro, Burlington City, Pemberton Township, and Gloucester City were among the districts with the biggest spikes in absenteeism.

Statewide, four-year graduation rates increased slightly from 90.6% to 91.0%, compared with the previous school year, while some economically disadvantaged districts saw the biggest drops.

Willingboro had the biggest graduation drop compared with the 2018-19 pre-pandemic year, falling from 86.1% to 74.3% in 2021-22. Meanwhile, Lindenwold had the biggest drop compared with the previous school year, plummeting 16.8 percentage points from 81.9% to 65.1%.

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Most of the districts with the largest declines in graduation rates also have high proportions of economically disadvantaged students. One outlier is Audubon, which has an economically disadvantaged percentage of only 17.6%, but had the second-biggest drop since 2018-19, from 95.4% to 85.6% in 2021-22.

The commissioner gave no indication at Wednesday’s meeting whether the Graduation Proficiency Assessment requirement will remain for future classes.

While a 1979 state law mandates a high school exit exam, New Jersey waived the exam as a requirement for the Class of 2023 under a bill signed by Gov. Phil Murphy. Lawmakers said too many students were unprepared after pandemic learning losses, so any results would be used as a field test to develop a new proficiency exam.

This school year’s juniors — members of the class of 2024 — took the New Jersey Graduation Proficiency Assessment this spring. Students who failed the exam can still graduate through an alternative assessment or a portfolio appeals process.

The report identified 170 new low-performing Title I schools targeted for support for the 2023-24 year. Of the 274 schools previously identified as needing support, 180 have made improvements and will be removed in June.

In South Jersey, 27 schools made the lowest-performing list. They include schools in Burlington City, Delanco, New Hanover Township, Pemberton, Willingboro, Berlin, Camden City, Camden Prep and KIPP Cooper Norcross in Camden, Collingswood, Lawnside, Lindenwold, Winslow, Delsea Regional Middle, Glassboro, National Park, Paulsboro, Pennsauken, Pine Hill, Riverside, Waterford, and Woodbury.