Absenteeism was up and graduation rates fell last year, according to N.J.’s annual school report card

The New Jersey Department of Education has released its annual School Performance Report, a highly anticipated assessment that offers a snapshot into student learning and proficiency based on standardized state tests. But there are gaps this year when it comes to information available on student achievement in the face of the pandemic and learning loss. Here are some takeaways on the 2020-21 report:

Usually, the report assesses performance in every school district and school in the state in math, science, and language arts. Those student projectiles are missing because the New Jersey Student Learning Assessment (NJSLA) was canceled in both spring 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19 protocols. Besides statewide assessment and performance results, also excluded from the report are data on student growth, progress toward achieving English language proficiency, and ratings in meeting annual targets. The NJSLA resumed this spring.

The administration of the PSAT, SAT, and ACT exams were canceled across the country because of the pandemic, from spring 2020 through spring 2021. As a result, the state said the limited results might not be comparable with prior or future years.

With some limitations, the report does include staple data such as demographics, graduation rates, dropout rates, enrollment, discipline, dual enrollment courses, apprenticeships, student-to-staff ratios, per-pupil expenditures, violence, vandalism and substance offenses, teacher retention, teacher education and experience.

Although most schools were remote, chronic absenteeism was a problem in some South Jersey districts over the last four years. (Figures were not reported for the 2019-20 school year because of COVID-19.) The Camden school district listed half of its students as chronically absent, missing 10% of school days, or 57% in 2020-21, up from 34% in the 2018-19 school year.

Statewide, four-year graduation rates declined by 0.4 percentage points in 2020-21 compared with the previous school year, from 91.0% to 90.6%. Some local school districts had a much larger decline.

Graduation rates in Burlington City’s school district fell by 13 percentage points, from 90.7% to 77.6%. The Camden City district’s rate of 58.5%, which was the lowest in the region in the 2020-21 school year, represented a one-year decline of 11.4 points. Nearly half of Burlington City’s students were considered economically disadvantaged, as were nearly three-quarters of Camden City’s students.

The state Department of Education said it is unclear what impact the pandemic and changes to state and local polices may have had on student performance. It recommends contacting your local district for more information and urges caution in comparing 2020-21 school performance data in the report to previous or future years. Find your school and district here: https://bit.ly/3NNfc0J