The New Jersey Assessment of Skills and Knowledge (NJASK) was a standardized test given to all New Jersey public-schooled students in grades 3-8 during (usually) March, April, or May, and was administered by the New Jersey Department of Education.
Together with the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA) that was given to students in eleventh grade, the NJASK was part of a battery of tests used to assess student performance in New Jersey's public schools.
The test was originally called the Elementary School Proficiency Assessment (ESPA), which was administered at grade 4 from 1997 through 2002 to provide an early indication of student progress toward achieving the knowledge and skills identified in the New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards (CCCS).
In spring 2003, the state education department replaced the ESPA with the NJASK, which is a comprehensive, multi-grade assessment program. It assessed student achievement in language arts, math, and science. Along with other indicators of student progress, the results of the elementary-level assessments were intended to be used to identify students who need additional instructional support in order to reach the CCCS.
Alternate Proficiency Assessment (APA) is a portfolio-based assessment method used to measure academic progress for students with severe disabilities who are unable to participate in the standardized assessment tests. The APA is given to a student in each content area where the student's disability is so severe that the student is not receiving instruction in the skill being measured and the student cannot complete any of the types of questions on the assessment in a content area even with appropriate changes and accommodations.
Beginning in the 2014–2015 school year, the NJASK assessments and the HSPA were phased out in favor of the new PARCC exam, which is administered to students in grades 3–11.