Look at several sources - grades alone are not enough. Most students in New Jersey public schools are getting As and Bs on report cards. But standardized testing confirms 55% of New Jersey fourth graders can’t do math at grade level. By sixth grade, that figure is 64%.

Parents should also look at district and statewide test scores, including benchmarks and diagnostic tests, then ask teachers or principals about anything that doesn’t add up.

Sometimes students' grades encompass their effort, extra credit, homework completion, and attendance, while other grades don’t include those things at all.

Also, grades do not include some important objective measures like the state tests.

A study from the Equitable Grading Project explains why traditional grading practices don’t accurately convey what students actually learn.

Unfortunately, no. In 2019, right before the pandemic, only 51% of our public school fourth graders were proficient in math and 57% were proficient in reading.

COVID-19 accelerated our challenges, but didn’t cause them. You can view the past decade of proficiency results here.

Wake Up Call blames the process, not the people. Firstly, the “blame game” doesn’t help any kids. Secondly, we love educators and we believe teaching is the most important profession in our state. No single institution or group is responsible for this problem. Our focus is on illuminating the difficult truth about challenges in our public schools to spur action and real improvement.

Math and reading, especially in our younger grades, go hand in hand and we care about both. With so much more attention given to reading, though, we chose to spotlight math in our initial campaign. In fact, math performance at an early age can also make our students better readers as they grow older!

NO.

The goal of Wake Up Call NJ is to improve our public education system, so all kids have an opportunity for a great education. That starts with a broader understanding of the challenges our students face. We can solve these challenges. The first step is knowing there's a problem.