The Third of Seven Reports on our 7-District Dashboard
We’ll start with the housekeeping and go over the same spiel we covered in our first two reports in the series.
We’re going to handle the performance reports a bit differently this year and integrate the 7-District Comparisons into each District’s profile.
As a reminder the Districts on our Dashboard include Berkeley Heights, Chatham, Madison, Millburn, New Providence, Summit and Westfield.
It’s important to remember that NJ moved to adaptive testing this year for Math and ELA, and in a recent email to NJ21st, NJDOE said much of what NJ21st requested regarding technical reporting, validation, comparability, psychometric analysis, and TAC-related materials was still in development.
This report focuses on Summit.
ELA, Math and Science
ELA dropped a bit overall but the picture was a mixed bag. Grade 3 and Grade 5 improved, while Grade 4 and Grade 9 showed the bigger drops.
| Grade / Level | 2023-24 ELA Proficiency | 2024-25 ELA Proficiency | Change | Takeaway |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall District | 82.6% | 82.0% | -0.6 points | Districtwide ELA proficiency declined slightly from the prior year. |
| Grade 3 | 77.5% | 83.6% | +6.1 points | Improved from the prior year. |
| Grade 4 | 88.0% | 82.0% | -6.0 points | One of the larger ELA declines in the table. |
| Grade 5 | 86.5% | 88.1% | +1.6 points | Improved from the prior year. |
| Grade 6 | 82.8% | 81.7% | -1.1 points | Slight decline from the prior year. |
| Grade 7 | 79.6% | 83.2% | +3.6 points | Improved from the prior year. |
| Grade 8 | 82.6% | 81.4% | -1.2 points | Slight decline from the prior year. |
| Grade 9 | 81.8% | 75.2% | -6.6 points | Largest ELA decline in this table. |
The district is above its 2021-2022 post-COVID ELA rate of 81.4%; still below it’s 2018-19 pre-COVID rate (84.8%) and a little behind on last year’s level.
Math improved overall but as with ELA the numbers underneath the fold were mixed. Grade 6 went up big while Grade 8 and Algebra I declined.
| Grade / Level | 2023-24 Math Proficiency | 2024-25 Math Proficiency | Change | Takeaway |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall District | 72.6% | 75.7% | +3.1 points | Districtwide math proficiency improved from the prior year. |
| Grade 3 | 80.1% | 84.0% | +3.9 points | Improved from the prior year. |
| Grade 4 | 78.5% | 80.4% | +1.9 points | Improved from the prior year. |
| Grade 5 | 77.2% | 82.8% | +5.6 points | Improved meaningfully from the prior year. |
| Grade 6 | 61.2% | 75.8% | +14.6 points | Largest math improvement in this table. |
| Grade 7 | 71.0% | 70.3% | -0.7 points | Essentially flat, with a slight decline. |
| Grade 8 | 47.3% | 37.4% | -9.9 points | Declined sharply, though Grade 8 math can be affected by Algebra I participation. |
| Algebra I | 74.6% | 70.8% | -3.8 points | Declined from the prior year. |
| Geometry | 93.8% | 97.8% | +4.0 points | Improved from the prior year. |
| Algebra II | * | * | Not reported | Data was suppressed or not reportable in the district chart. |
The district is above its 2021-22 post-COVID math rate of 69.0% and also above its 2023-24 rate of 72.6% but its shy of it’s 2018-19 pre-Covid rate by one point.
Student growth in ELA and Math were Typical and above the 2018-2019 pre-Covid benchmark.
| Student Growth Measure | 2024-25 | Rating | Takeaway |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall ELA mSGP | 54 | Typical | ELA growth was labeled typical. |
| Overall Math mSGP | 56 | Typical | Math growth was labeled typical and was slightly higher than ELA growth. |
Note: mSGP stands for median Student Growth Percentile. It measures student growth compared with academically similar students, not the percentage of students who met proficiency.
Compared with the ’18-’19 pre-COVID growth, Summit’s is above where it was – ELA mSGP rose from 52 to 54 in 2024-25, while Math rose from 54 to 56.
On Science, NJDOE’s 2024-25 report now displays an overall science figure directly and the table below uses the percentage meeting or exceeding expectations by combining Level 3 and Level 4.
| Grade / Level | 2023-24 Science Proficiency | 2024-25 Science Proficiency | Change | Takeaway |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall District | Not listed in this table | 53.3% | — | Overall science proficiency was 53.3% in 2024-25. |
| Grade 5 | 54.7% | 59.1% | +4.4 points | Improved from the prior year. |
| Grade 8 | 48.2% | 42.1% | -6.1 points | Declined from the prior year. |
| Grade 11 | 58.9% | 57.1% | -1.8 points | Slight decline from the prior year. |
Summit’s 2024-25 science proficiency rate of 53.3% is behind the 2018-19 pre-COVID rate of 56.3% but ahead of its ‘its immediate ’21-’22 post-COVID rate of 51.0%. So science has recovered from the 2021-22 low point, but it’s still about 3 points below the pre-COVID benchmark.
Graduation
The NJGPA numbers were strong in ELA and lower in Math-93.7% of 11th graders graduation ready in ELA and 79.9% hitting the mark in Math.
With that said, a note we’ll be making in every profile – three years ago the NJDOE lowered the cut score needed to pass the NJGPA.
| NJGPA Measure | 2023-24 | 2024-25 | Change | Takeaway |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11th Graders Graduation Ready: ELA | 93.9% | 93.7% | -0.2 points | ELA graduation-readiness was essentially flat. |
| 11th Graders Graduation Ready: Math | 84.2% | 79.9% | -4.3 points | Math graduation-readiness declined from the prior year. |
Summit’s 4-year graduation rate remained high-4-year rate at 98.0%, 5-year rate of 97.0% and 6-year rate of 96.7%- Cohort 2025 4-year, Cohort 2024 5-year, and Cohort 2023 6-year.
| Graduation Measure | District Rate | State Rate | Takeaway |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cohort 2025 4-Year Graduation Rate | 98.0% | 91.8% | Summit was above the statewide 4-year rate. |
| Cohort 2024 5-Year Graduation Rate | 97.0% | 92.9% | Summit remained above the statewide 5-year rate. |
| Cohort 2023 6-Year Graduation Rate | 96.7% | 93.2% | Summit was also above the statewide 6-year rate. |
Environment
Another note we’re going to make with every district’s report on chronic absenteeism – the NJDOE changed the inclusion rule by moving the minimum days present or absent from 45 days to 90 days –so better numbers in this area should be read with that change in mind.
Chronic absenteeism declined from 7.8% in 2023-24 to 6.5% in 2024-25, but three schools still needed to create corrective action plans.
| Measure | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 | Change / Takeaway |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reported K-12 Chronic Absenteeism Rate | 7.4% | 8.7% | 7.8% | 6.5% | Reported rate declined to the lowest level shown, but 2024-25 comparisons should be treated cautiously because NJDOE changed the inclusion rule. |
| Change from Prior Year | — | +1.3 points | -0.9 points | -1.3 points | The reported rate has declined for two straight years after peaking in 2022-23. |
| Schools Required to Develop Corrective Action Plan | — | — | — | 3 | Three Summit schools were reported as requiring chronic absenteeism corrective action plans. |
| Grade PK Chronic Absenteeism | — | — | — | 30.0% | Highest listed grade-level rate. |
| Grade 1 Chronic Absenteeism | — | — | — | 14.3% | One of the higher listed K-12 grade-level rates. |
| Grade 9 Chronic Absenteeism | — | — | — | 8.6% | Highest listed high-school grade rate in the chart. |
Compared with 2018-19, Summit’s reported chronic absenteeism rate is lower: 7.7% in 2018-19 versus 6.5% in 2024-25 BUT AGAIN because NJDOE changed the inclusion rule for 2024-25, that improvement should be read cautiously.
Moving to the Disciplinary measures– there were 110 total unique incidents in ’24-’25 coming to 2.74 incidents per 100 students.
| Year | Summit Incidents Per 100 Students | Change From Prior Listed Year | Change From 2018-19 | Takeaway |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | 0.81 | — | — | Pre-COVID comparison point from NJ21st tracking. |
| 2021-22 | 1.49 | +0.68 | +0.68 | Increased from the pre-COVID level. |
| 2022-23 | 3.17 | +1.68 | +2.36 | Rose sharply from the prior listed year. |
| 2023-24 | 2.74 | -0.43 | +1.93 | Declined from the prior listed year but remained above the 2018-19 level. |
| 2024-25 | 2.74 | 0.00 | +1.93 | Still well above the pre-COVID comparison point. |
Note: Prior-year figures are from NJ21st’s tracker of Violence, Vandalism, HIB and Substance incidents per 100 students. The 2024-25 discipline dashboard lists 110 total unique incidents. The report cautions that incident categories should not be added together because a single incident may be counted under multiple types.
Compared with the pre-COVID number Summit’s discipline rate is much higher- 0.81 incidents per 100 students and so ’24-’25 is an increase of 1.93 incidents per 100 students.
HIB made up the largest listed category, followed by Violence, Vandalism and Substances.
| Incident Category | 2024-25 Incidents | Takeaway |
|---|---|---|
| Total Unique Incidents | 110 | Overall count reported in the discipline dashboard. |
| HIB | 64 | Largest listed incident category. |
| Violence | 25 | Second-largest listed category. |
| Vandalism | 13 | Listed below HIB and violence. |
| Substances | 8 | Lower than HIB, violence and vandalism. |
| Weapons | 0 | No weapons incidents were reported. |
| Arrests | 0 | The arrest table reports zero arrests. |
7-District Comparison
In ELA, Summit ranked third out of seven districts and was above the 7-district average.
ELA Proficiency, 2024-25
Summit ranked 3rd of 7.
Summit: 82.0%
7-District Average: 79.2%
It was also above the 7-District average on Math and ranked third.
Math Proficiency, 2024-25
Summit ranked 3rd of 7.
Summit: 75.7%
7-District Average: 74.5%
And in Science, Summit ranked fifth out of seven districts and below the average.
Science Proficiency, 2024-25
Summit ranked 5th of 7.
Summit: 53.3%
7-District Average: 55.6%
Moving to Student Growth, Summit ranked 4th on ELA and Math but above the 7-District average on both.
ELA Student Growth, 2024-25
Summit was behind New Providence, Madison and Millburn.
Summit mSGP: 54
7-District Average: 51.0
Math Student Growth, 2024-25
Summit ranked 4th of 7.
Summit mSGP: 56
7-District Average: 54.1
Lower is better with chronic absenteeism and Summit ranked fifth out of the seven
Chronic Absenteeism, 2024-25
Summit ranked 5th lowest of 7. Lower is better.
Summit: 6.5%
7-District Average: 6.2%
Bars scaled to 10% for readability.
Summit didn’t do so well with disciplinary incidents either, ranking 6th.
Discipline Incidents Per 100 Students, 2024-25
Summit ranked 6th of 7. Lower is better.
Summit: 2.74
7-District Average: 1.43
Bars scaled to 3 incidents per 100 students for readability.
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Related Articles
New Providence by the Numbers: Part 2 of Our 7-District Comparison
Berkeley Heights 2024-25 School Performance: Proficiency Drops, Discipline Spikes and the 7-District Comparison
