NJ Student Learning Standards
NJSLS
Building on a robust body of research, the New Jersey Student Learning Standards (NJSLS) provide clear and consistent learning goals across nine distinct content areas to help prepare students for postsecondary success. The standards clearly demonstrate what students are expected to learn at specific grade levels and bands, so that every parent and teacher can understand and support student learning.
The standards draw on national and international models, as well as research and input from numerous sources, including educators from kindergarten through college, scholars, assessment developers, professional organizations, parents and students, and members of the public. Refined through successive drafts and extensive feedback, the standards represent a synthesis of the best elements of standards-related work in New Jersey to date. They offer the foundation on which districts build coherent curriculum and plan instruction to prepare each New Jersey student with the knowledge and skills needed to succeed in our rapidly changing world.
- Career Readiness, Life Literacies & Key Skills
- Comprehensive Health & Physical Education
- Computer Science & Design Thinking
- English Language Arts
- Mathematics
- Science
- Social Studies
- Visual & Performing Arts
- World Languages
New Jersey Student Learning Standards for ELA and Mathematics
New Jersey’s standards in English language arts (ELA) and mathematics underwent a special review in 2015 and were initially adopted by the New Jersey State Board of Education in May 2016 , and were readopted again in 2020.
English Language Arts
The New Jersey Student Learning Standards for English Language Arts (NJSLS-ELA) build on the best of existing standards and reflect the skills and knowledge students need to succeed in college, career, and life. They define general, cross-disciplinary literacy expectations that must be met for students to be prepared to enter college and workforce training programs ready to succeed. The K-12 grade-specific standards define end-of-year expectations and a cumulative progression designed to enable students to meet college and career readiness expectations no later than the end of high school.
Students advancing through the grades are expected to meet each year’s grade-specific standards, retain or further develop skills and understandings mastered in preceding grades, and work steadily toward meeting the more general expectations described by the standards.
English Language Arts NJSLS
Social Studies, Science and Technical Subjects ELA Companion Standards
Mathematics
Successful teaching and learning of mathematics play an important role in ensuring that students have the right skills required to compete in a 21st century global economy. When properly implemented and coupled with opportunities for students to engage in mathematical investigation, communication and problem solving, rigorous mathematics standards hold the promise of elevating the mathematical knowledge and skill of every learner to levels competitive with the best in the world, of preparing our college entrants to undertake advanced work in the mathematical sciences, and of readying the next generation for the jobs their world will demand.
The New Jersey Student Learning Standards can be found here:
- ELA New Jersey Student Learning Standards
- Math New Jersey Student Learning Standards
- NJSLS ELA Articulation Grid
- NJSLS Math Articulation Grid K-8
NJSLA Evidence Tables
ELA
- ELA Task Generation Models Description Grades 3-High School
- ELA Claims and Evidence Distribution Grades 3-High School
- ELA Blueprints Grades 3 through 9
- ELA Reading Evidence Tables Grades 3-High School
- ELA Writing Evidence Tables Grades 3-High School
- ELA Writing Rubrics Grades 3-High School
- ELA Passage Selection Guidelines Grades 3-High School
- ELA Text Complexity Analysis Grades 3-High School
- ELA Cognitive Complexity Grades 3-High School
- ELA Performance Level Descriptors Grades 3-High School
- ELA Companion Guide - Grades 3 through 8
- ELA Companion Guide - Grade 9
Mathematics
- Math Task Types Grades 3-High School
- Math Claims Structure Grades 3-High School
- Math High Level Blueprint Grades 3-High School
- Math Test Unit Structure Grades 3-High School
- Math Evidence Statements Grade 3
- Math Evidence Statements Grade 4
- Math Evidence Statements Grade 5
- Math Evidence Statements Grade 6
- Math Evidence Statements Grade 7
- Math Evidence Statements Grade 8
- Math Evidence Statements Algebra I
- Math Evidence Statements Geometry
- Math Evidence Statements Algebra II
- Math Performance Level Descriptors Grades 3-5
- Math Performance Level Descriptors Grades 6-8
- Math Performance Level Descriptors High School