Facing increasing pressure over its mishandling of a new graduation test, the NJ Department of Education (NJDOE) is scrambling to contain a "dropout disaster" of its own making. With only a few weeks left before graduation ceremonies, thousands of students, including hundreds in each of NJ's poorest urban districts, may be denied diplomas because of their scores on the new Alternative High School Assessment (AHSA).

In recent years, about 12,000 students annually earned their diplomas by using the alternative assessment (formerly the "special review assessment" or SRA) to satisfy state graduation requirements. This includes one in every three urban graduates and a majority of English language learners. It also includes smaller numbers of students in over 500 districts. (60% of all SRA graduates came from non-Abbott districts.)

This year, the NJDOE replaced the SRA with the AHSA. While the content of the test was not changed, the Department's new administration and scoring procedures dramatically changed the assessment. Moreover, unlike all previous state graduation tests, the AHSA was not piloted or field-tested before it was implemented with high stakes for students. (For details of NJDOE's mishandling of the test, see links below.)

When the first AHSA results were returned to districts at the end of March---just three months before graduation---only 10% of those tested passed the language arts section, and 34% passed the math. This left thousands of seniors facing the prospect of not receiving a diploma despite completing all their course credits and local requirements. Many of these students have college acceptances, military obligations, and promises of employment contingent on receiving a diploma by the end of June.

NJDOE originally refused to release the January test results. But after receiving the scores anonymously, Education Law Center publicly called on the Commissioner to take action to avoid a "dropout disaster." As the implications became clear, numerous questions were raised about the implementation and scoring of the new test. So far, NJDOE has responded with various forms of damage control. It rescored some, but not all, test responses from January. It modified the April scoring process, which it had contracted out to a commercial vendor, Measurement, Inc., despite pledges to have the scoring done by certified NJ educators. It also belatedly created an "appeals process" with criteria that shifted several times.

Both the Assembly and Senate Education Committees have held or plan to hold hearings on the testing debacle, putting pressure on the NJDOE to come up with solutions to the impending crisis. For many students, the April AHSA scores, which are due to be returned to districts on June 2, may be their last chance to graduate on time.

It is unclear how many of the thousands of students at risk of not graduating will be able to submit appeals or how many will be successful.

For more information, please contact Stan Karp at skarp@edlawcenter.org.

Prepared: June 2, 2010