Superintendent Dr. Burns presented the spring 2025 New Jersey Student Learning Assessment (NJSLA) results and a five-year trend analysis to the Flemington-Raritan Regional School District board, highlighting steady gains since the pandemic in many grade levels and subjects and identifying areas needing additional focus.

Dr. Burns reviewed longitudinal ELA and math results for grades 3–8 and reported that the district’s combined percentages for students meeting or exceeding grade-level expectations have shown a slow climb since the pandemic year. He said RFIS and other schools are above the state proficiency rate in many tested grades; for example, district proficiency for third grade ELA was shown as 50% state vs. 59% district, and grade 5 science district proficiency was 43% vs. a 30% state rate.

The presentation noted variability by subgroup and by grade. Dr. Burns emphasized that grade 8 general-math proficiency lags and that part of the explanation is that grade 8 results reflect different student course placements (grade 8 math vs. Algebra I or Geometry), affecting comparative percentages. The board was told the district is piloting an adaptive testing platform later in the year and is moving to Cambium as the test vendor in coming cycles.

Dr. Burns described curriculum investments intended to raise performance: BRIDGES math K–5 in its second/third year, and OpenSciEd for grades 6–8 (new this year). He told the board he observed positive reactions from teachers on OpenSciEd during walkthroughs. The board discussed resource needs for economically disadvantaged students, special education and multilingual learners and acknowledged a challenging budget environment that reduced some intervention services this year.

The board’s instruction committee had earlier recommended using NJSLA and other diagnostic assessments such as MAP and LinkIt to inform targeted interventions; administration plans data dives on an upcoming Oct. 14 professional development day.