Graduation Requirements

Class of 2026 Graduation Requirements

Guidance Counselors at Pequannock Township High School will provide students information and support as they work towards all of their graduation requirements. The High School Student Handbook provides more information related to the required number of credits and coursework that students must complete for graduation.

Grade 11 NJGPA Requirement for ELA & Mathematics

The State of NJ requires students to demonstrate proficiency on approved assessments or through a portfolio process in order to graduate high school. The requirements for the class of 2026 are available on the NJDOE Graduation Assessments Requirements webpage and detailed below. These requirements were updated by NJDOE in October, 2025.

Students must take and demonstrate proficiency in grade 11 on the New Jersey Graduation Proficiency Assessment (NJGPA), which includes content aligned to the grade 10 New Jersey Student Learning Standards (NJSLS) in ELA, and the NJSLS in Algebra 1 and Geometry. If after completing the New Jersey Graduation Proficiency Assessment a student does not demonstrate proficiency on the ELA or mathematics section, the student may retake the New Jersey Graduation Proficiency Assessment in the following summer or fall.

A student with disabilities whose IEP states that they are not eligible for the alternate assessment (Dynamic Learning Maps) must take the New Jersey Graduation Proficiency Assessment in grade 11.

Dropdown Menus for Pathways

First Pathway - Proficient on NJGPA ELA & Mathematics

First Pathway - Score Proficient on the NJGPA Assessments

Note: Cut Scores Approved by the New Jersey State Board of Education on May 2, 2023.

ELA	Mathematics
NJGPA-ELA ≥ 725 (Graduation Ready).	NJGPA—Mathematics ≥ 725 (Graduation Ready)

Second Pathway - Proficiency on Alternate Assessment

Second Pathway - Menu of Substitute Competency Tests

NOTE: Students MUST complete the Grade 11 NJGPA Assessments in order to be able to use the Second Pathway.

Students who sat for the New Jersey Graduation Proficiency Assessment in grade 11 and did not demonstrate proficiency are able to demonstrate proficiency in ELA and/or Mathematics by meeting the designated cut score on one of the assessments on the menu of substitute competency tests in the table for the second pathway (below).

Menu of Substitute Competency Tests and their related cut scores

ELA	Mathematics
One of the following: ACT Reading ≥ 17 Accuplacer WritePlacer ≥ 5 Accuplacer WritePlacer English Second Language ≥ 4 PSAT10 Evidence Based Reading and Writing (EBRW) ≥ 420 PSAT10 Reading ≥ 21 PSAT/NMSQT EBRW ≥ 420 PSAT/NMSQT Reading ≥ 21 SAT EBRW ≥ 450 SAT Reading ≥ 23	One of the following: ACT Math ≥ 17 Accuplacer Elementary Algebra ≥ 49 Accuplacer Next-Generation QAS ≥ 250 PSAT10 Math Section or PSAT/NMSQT Math Section ≥ 420 PSAT10 Math or PSAT/NMSQT Math ≥ 21 SAT Math Section ≥ 440 SAT Math Test ≥ 22

ELA

Mathematics

One of the following:

ACT Reading ≥ 17
Accuplacer WritePlacer ≥ 5
Accuplacer WritePlacer English Second Language ≥ 4
PSAT10 Evidence Based Reading and Writing (EBRW) ≥ 420
PSAT10 Reading ≥ 21
PSAT/NMSQT EBRW ≥ 420
PSAT/NMSQT Reading ≥ 21
SAT EBRW ≥ 450
SAT Reading ≥ 23

One of the following:

ACT Math ≥ 17
Accuplacer Elementary Algebra ≥ 49
Accuplacer Next-Generation QAS ≥ 250
PSAT10 Math Section or PSAT/NMSQT Math Section ≥ 420
PSAT10 Math or PSAT/NMSQT Math ≥ 21
SAT Math Section ≥ 440
SAT Math Test ≥ 22

Third Pathway - Portfolio Process

Third Pathway—Portfolio Appeals

NOTE: Students MUST complete the Grade 11 NJGPA Assessments in order to be able to use the Third Pathway.

Students who completed the New Jersey Graduation Proficiency Assessment in grade 11 and did not demonstrate proficiency are able to demonstrate proficiency in ELA and/or mathematics through a portfolio appeal in grade 12.More information on the Portfolio Appeal process can be found on the Graduation Assessment Requirements website.

English-Language Arts (ELA) Portfolio Requirements

To fulfill the English language arts (ELA) assessment component of New Jersey high school graduation requirements, a student must demonstrate proficiency in English language arts. Any grade 12 student in the class of 2025 who has taken the ELA component of the New Jersey Graduation Proficiency Assessment (NJGPA) but has not yet met the high school graduation assessment requirement for ELA may do this through the portfolio appeals process by demonstrating competency in Constructed Response Tasks (CRTs) aligned to the content categories as described in the following:

Two grade-level reading passages (one literary and one informational) as well as associated items that demonstrate a student’s comprehension (i.e., multiple-choice items and short constructed responses to open-ended questions).
Writing that includes at least two of the three types required by New Jersey Student Learning Standards in ELA (i.e., informative/explanatory, argument, narrative).

Mathematics Portfolio Requirements

To fulfill the mathematics assessment component of New Jersey high school graduation requirements, a student must demonstrate proficiency in mathematics. Any grade 12 student in the class of 2025 who has taken the mathematics component of the New Jersey Graduation Proficiency Assessment (NJGPA) but has not yet met the high school graduation assessment requirement for mathematics may do this through the portfolio appeals process by demonstrating competency in four (4) Constructed Response Tasks (CRTs) evidencing the mathematical practices aligned to the high school mathematics conceptual areas.

Each of the conceptual areas encompasses knowledge and skills articulated in the New Jersey Student Learning Standards for Mathematics (NJSLS-M). Through the portfolio appeals process, evidence is gathered of a student’s ability to demonstrate the mathematical practices through reasoning and modeling within the high school content areas.

The appeals process must provide evidence from two mathematical practice categories as follows:

1. Expressing Mathematical Reasoning: Express appropriate mathematical reasoning by constructing viable arguments, critiquing the reasoning of others and/or attending to precision when making mathematical statements.

Base explanations and reasoning on knowledge and skills articulated in the Number and Quantity, Algebra, Functions, Geometry, and Statistics and Probability conceptual areas.

2. Modeling: Apply knowledge and skills to solve real-world problems, engaging particularly in the modeling practice and, where appropriate, making sense and persevering to solve them, reasoning abstractly and quantitatively, using appropriate tools strategically and making use of structure.

Solve multi-step contextual problems requiring application of knowledge and skills articulated in the Number and Quantity, Algebra, Functions, Geometry, and Statistics and Probability conceptual areas.

NOTE

A streamlined Portfolio Appeal option is available to students who meet or exceed the minimum required Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) composite score of 35 and allows for a 50 percent reduction in the quantity of Portfolio Appeals constructed response tasks (CRTs). Please see the website for additional information on adjustments to the Portfolio Appeal process for ELA and mathematics which have streamlined the Portfolio Appeal option.

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