This guide is for New Jersey educators: teachers, curriculum specialists, test coordinators, and school administrators. It lists what NJDOE and the state's New Jersey Assessments Portal have published, with a direct link to each and a note on when you would use it. Check the linked pages for current details, since NJDOE updates them through the year.
Quick reference
| Resource | Link | Use it for |
|---|---|---|
| NJDOE assessment homepage | nj.gov/education/assessment | Announcements, policy documents, contact details |
| NJGPA-A / NJSLA-A / NJSLA-S page | Adaptive assessments page | Key dates, blueprints, overviews, reporting resources |
| NJSLA-A and NJGPA-A FAQ | FAQ | How the adaptive test works, accommodations, results timeline, reports |
| Unit testing times | Testing times | Unit and session times for ELA and mathematics |
| New Jersey Assessments Portal | nj.portal.cambiumast.com | Practice tests, administration and technology resources, and a searchable library of guides |
The New Jersey Assessments Portal
The New Jersey Assessments Portal is run by Cambium Assessment, the state's testing vendor. It holds the materials for the NJSLA-Adaptive (NJSLA-A), the NJGPA-Adaptive (NJGPA-A) and the NJSLA-Science (NJSLA-S). Content is added as new resources become available, so check it regularly. The section names below are the portal's own; each section's contents load in the browser and change through the year.
| Section | What you'll find |
|---|---|
| Students & Families | Information about the three tests for families, and the online and paper-based practice tests |
| Educators | Resources about the tests and for administering them |
| Testing Personnel | Resources for administering the tests |
| Technology Coordinators | Technology resources needed to run the administrations |
| Resources | A searchable library, including the score interpretation guides and the CRS User Guide |
| Communications | Portal announcements |
Test structure and content
The blueprints describe what each test covers, which grades and courses it applies to, and the reporting categories it reports. Use them to align curriculum and to see how each test is built.
Writing rubrics: NJDOE publishes the NJSLA-A and NJGPA-A writing rubrics. The FAQ explains that writing is scored with a holistic rubric on two dimensions, Composition and Conventions.
Administration
- Testing times: the unit testing times page. NJDOE notes that the listed times do not include time for logging students on and reading directions.
- Key dates: the fall and spring key-dates pages, linked from the adaptive assessments page.
- Memos: NJDOE issues broadcast memos to districts before each administration and posts them on its broadcasts page.
- FAQ: the NJSLA-A and NJGPA-A FAQ covers adaptive mechanics, item types, the calculator policy, practice tests, test administration, and results. NJDOE updates it as districts send in questions.
Practice tests
Practice tests are on the portal's practice tests page, under Students & Families. NJDOE also publishes short guides to practicing for the NJSLA-A and the NJGPA-A. The FAQ says practice tests help students get comfortable with the platform, item formats and tools. They are not meant for content preparation.
Accessibility and accommodations
NJDOE states that "[t]he accommodations available on the new test are consistent with the supports that were available prior NJSLA and NJGPA tests." The FAQ lists them, including American Sign Language, Braille, extended time, highlighting and digital notetaking, paper versions, text-to-speech, speech-to-text, and zoom or magnification. It also notes which ones are not adaptive, including the paper version. The full list and descriptions are in the Testing Attributes Reference Manual on the portal's Resources page.
Results and reporting
The NJSLA-A and the NJGPA-A report on different schedules. NJDOE released spring 2026 NJGPA-A results on August 17, 2026, and lists spring 2026 NJSLA-A results for fall 2026. The FAQ carries the current timeline, including dates for upcoming administrations.
- NJSLA Score Interpretation Guide
- NJSLA sample Individual Student Reports
- NJGPA-A Score Interpretation Guide
- NJGPA-A sample Individual Student Report
- Centralized Reporting System (CRS) User Guide, the system where district staff view results
Parental notification
Districts must notify parents and guardians about the state and standardized assessments given during the year. NJDOE's September 23, 2026 broadcast sets out the requirement, and NJDOE publishes a 2026-2027 sample template districts can adapt.
Contact
- NJDOE Office of Assessments: assessment@doe.nj.gov or (609) 376-3960, as listed on the assessment homepage.
- Platform and technical support: through the New Jersey Assessments Portal.
What NJDOE has not yet published
NJDOE has published a great deal of structural and procedural material. Checked against its pages on September 24, 2026, these technical pieces are not among them:
- Comparability to the old scale: no published study expresses NJSLA-A scale scores in terms of the fixed-form NJSLA scale.
- Technical reports: NJDOE's technical reports page lists reports for the fixed-form NJSLA and NJGPA through 2025. None has been posted yet for the NJSLA-A or the NJGPA-A.
This guide is for educators and test coordinators. Point families to the Students & Families section of the portal, or to DataVot's A Parent's Guide to the NJSLA-Adaptive, written in plain language.