Ishaan Reddy

Pushed in Issue No. 6 of The Lance in April 2025

NJSLA Testing Terminated: Here’s What You Need to know

Livingston students proved themselves too smart for the New Jersey Student Learning Assessment (NJSLA) testing as the Livingston Board of Education terminated the NJSLA, a test for both Math, English, and in some grades, Science, starting in 2025.

In a report released on March 24, 2025, the New Jersey Department of Education revealed that in 2024, 51% of students attending Livingston Public Schools who took the NJSLA got a perfect score of 850 in both Math and English.

While this was already cause for celebration for Livingston schools, the report had even more good news to share.

In 2002, a law was passed in New Jersey making it so that if 50% or more students in a given school district received perfect scores on their standardized tests, that test would no long be administered. While this law had never been put in effect, on March 24, the New Jersey Department of Education confirmed that the NJSLA would be terminated in the Livingston Township School District for the the foreseeable future.

“We now know that Livingston Public School students are of the highest caliber of students in New Jersey, and as such there is no further need to test them.” A New Jersey education official said.

The official explained how for the next 40 years, students attending Livingston Public Schools could no longer be required to take the NJSLA as a graduation requirement.

While other standardized tests, such as the NJGPA will still be given, the same official stated that if the trend continues, it is most likely that these tests will also be terminated for Livingston Public Schools.

The release of this report sparked much joy and excitement among students, yet some were disappointed in the development. One student expressed, “these tests were a way for students to showcase their academic achievement” and then added, “What are we supposed to brag about now?”

For any students looking to showcase their academic achievement, they should email their counselor, and arrangements will be made for them to go to a neighboring high school to take the test.

To celebrate, LHS will be hosting a bagel breakfast, a pizza party, and an ice cream social on the days previously allotted for NJSLA testing. There have been talks of using this time in future school years to send students on a field trip to the Cauliflower History Museum.

Regardless of what is done with the time once taken up by NJSLA testing, students at Livingston Public Schools can rest easy, and enjoy the rest of the NJSLA-free school years ahead.