Dated May 17th, from Willa Spicer, Deputy Commissioner, to District Superintendents and Charter School Leaders regarding the high failure rate on NJ’s Alternative High School Assessment:

It is possible that there is an unusual student who, despite five chances in two formats still cannot put forward his or her skills. Therefore, if you have a student in your system who absolutely surprises you, one who the staff believes has accomplished all that is required to receive a NJ diploma, the Department will study the case and make a final determination. If you have such a student, please send me a short summary of why the test has not revealed that student’s skills and two written papers or math assessments.