JSAT Level 8 2020-2021 Analysis of General Results

JSAT Level 8 2019-2020 Analysis of General Results

JSAT Level 8 2020-2021 Analysis of Results CoJDS is once again proud to present a detailed analysis of our most recent JSAT Level 8 High School Placement Exam. Now that this exam has been administered for two years in a row, we hope you will join us in examining early trends in Jewish education for the purpose of improving academic achievement in Judaic Studies classrooms. Section I – Demographics of Test Participants Number of Participants and Schools As of March 1, 2021, results were tabulated for 1,932 8th grade students who completed the 2020-2021 JSAT Level 8 exam in 52 schools across North America. The following is a list of lower schools that offered the exam to their students: School City State 1. Academies at Gerrard Berman Day School Oakland NJ 2. Adolph Schreiber Hebrew Academy of Rockland New City NY 3. Ahi Ezer Yeshiva Brooklyn NY 4. Barkai Yeshivah Middle School Brooklyn NY 5. Ben Porat Yosef Paramus NJ 6. Bi-Cultural Hebrew Academy Stamford CT 7. Bnos Malka Academy Flushing NY 8. Brauser Maimonides Academy Ft. Lauderdale FL 9. Bruriah Middle School Elizabeth NJ 10. Emek Hebrew Academy Sherman Oaks CA 11. Harkham Hillel Hebrew Academy Beverly Hills CA 12. Hebrew Academy of Five Towns and Rockaway Lawrence NY 13. Hebrew Academy of Long Beach Woodmere NY 14. Hebrew Academy of Miami Miami Beach FL 15. Hebrew Academy of Nassau County Uniondale NY 16. Hillel Academy of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh PA 17. Hillel Torah North Suburban Day School Skokie IL 18. Jewish Foundation School Staten Island NY 19. Kinneret Day School Riverdale NY 20. Lubavitch Hebrew Academy Margate FL 21. Lubavitch on the Palisades Tenafly NJ 22. Luria Academy of Brooklyn Brooklyn NY 23. Manhattan Day School New York NY 24. Mazel Day School Brooklyn NY 25. Mill Basin Yeshiva Academy Brooklyn NY 26. Park East Day School New York NY 27. Rabbi Pesach Raymon Yeshiva Edison NJ 28. Rosenbaum Yeshiva of North Jersey River Edge NJ

JSAT Level 8 2020-2021 Analysis of General Results

29. SAR Academy Bronx NY 30. Schechter Manhattan New York NY 31. Shulamith School for Girls of Brooklyn Brooklyn NY 32. Shulamith School for Girls of Cedarhurst Cedarhurst NY 33. Silverstein Hebrew Academy Great Neck NY 34. Solomon Schechter Day School of Bergen County New Milford NJ 35. Solomon Schechter School of Queens Queens NY 36. The Moriah School Englewood NJ 37. The Rabbi Haskell Lookstein Middle School of Ramaz New York NY 38. The Shefa School New York NY 39. Westchester Day School Mamaroneck NY 40. Westchester Torah Academy Harrison NY 41. Yavneh Academy Paramus NJ 42. Yeshiva Derech HaTorah Brooklyn NY 43. Yeshiva Har Torah Bellerose NY 44. Yeshiva Ketana of Long Island Inwood NY 45. Yeshiva Merkaz Hatorah Staten Island NY 46. Yeshiva of Central Queens Flushing NY 47. Yeshiva Shaarei Tzion Girls School Piscataway NJ 48. Yeshiva Torat Emet Houston TX 49. Yeshivah of Flatbush Brooklyn NY 50. Yeshivat He'atid Teaneck NJ 51. Yeshivat Netivot Montessori E. Brunswick NJ 52. Yeshivat Noam Paramus NJ

In addition, testing events were held at Yeshivah of Flatbush, SAR HS, and our Cedarhurst offices for out-of-network students whose school did not offer the exam. We would like to thank Yeshivah of Flatbush and SAR HS for helping with this effort. Demographics of Test Takers Grade Level 8 9 7 Total Male / Female 869 / 1,063 1 / 0 9 / 5 1,947

Chareidi / Yeshiva 307 0 14 321 Day School / Modern Orthodox 1,485 0 0 1,485 Community 49 0 0 49 Other 91 1 0 92 All Test Takers 1,932 1 14 1,947

JSAT Level 8 2019-2020 Analysis of General Results

As can be inferred from the table above, 99% of students who completed the exam were in 8th grade, and approximately 77% of all 8th grade students who completed the exam attended schools that identified themselves as Day School / Modern Orthodox. The male to female ratio for students in 8th grade who took the exam was 44% to 56%. Considering that 99% of all test takers were in 8th grade, our analysis will only focus on this population. Changes to the 2020-2021 Exam Based on the feedback we received from last year’s exam, the most significant changes made to the JSAT 2020-2021 Exam revolved around the Hebrew Language section. The changes to this section included the following:  The Hebrew Language section was moved up to Part A from Part B as some educators felt that test takers were suffering from “test fatigue” by the time students took the Hebrew Language section in Part B.  The number of long passages students were asked to read for the Hebrew Language section was reduced from two to one.  CoJDS released a series of practice units earlier in the year so that students would be more comfortable with the style of the Hebrew Language section when they encountered it on the exam. Besides the changes to the Hebrew Language section, we also did the following:  We reduced the number of questions in the Critical Thinking section from five to three. Additionally, the content did not involve math like in 2019- 2020.  We also reduced the overall number of questions in sections 1-9 from 160 to 147. The impact of these changes will be examined below. New Scoring Measures This year we introduced two new scoring items in the student reports a) z-scores and b) scaled scoring. Z-scores A z-score reports how far off the mean a student scored. When many students are bunched around a particular score (or group of scores), it can significantly impact the percentile score of students who are just above or below that group. The percentage score is only slightly different, but the percentile score gap can be considerable. By introducing a z-score, educators and students have another measure of insight regarding how close a given score was to the group average. (A z-score of zero means a student scored precisely at the mean, and a z-score of +1.25 means a student scored 1¼ units of a standard deviation above the mean.)

JSAT Level 8 2020-2021 Analysis of General Results

Scaled Scoring A scaled score is useful when trying to understand how the overall score of a student compares to students who took a different version of the exam (e.g., in a previous year). The JSAT Level 8 scaled scoring ranges between 375 to 1600, and every 200 points are equal to one unit of standard deviation. Accommodations for Covid-19 Due to Covid-19 and the need to accommodate remote learners and school shutdowns, CoJDS authored an online version of the exam for those students who could not attend school in person. 111 students took all or part of the exam online and were proctored by their respective schools remotely. We also offered many more dates for out-of-network students to take the exam to accommodate smaller group sizes. For the second year in a row, we were able to accommodate every student who wished to take the exam as part of their high school entrance application process. Section II – Methodology: Our exam contained nine sections plus an optional Gemara section, which was scored separately. As mentioned, the mandatory portion of the exam consisted of 147 questions, which were distributed as follows: Number of Section Questions Weight Section 1 – Chumash Skills 35 24% Section 2 – Chumash Vocabulary 10 7% 20% 30 ( ָפּ ָר ָשׁה) Section 3 – Chumash Knowledge Section 4 – Critical Thinking 3 2% Section 5 – Dinim/Yediot Klaliot 20 14% Section 6 – Navi Knowledge 15 10% Section 7 – Hebrew Language Skills 25 17% Section 8 – Torah Sheb'al Peh 3 2% Section 9 – Tefillah 6 4% Total: 147 100%

Upon completion of the exam, we sent the raw results to a psychometrician to evaluate the results for statistical validity, and several questions were discarded. The final distribution of questions scored in sections 1-9 is as follows:

JSAT Level 8 2019-2020 Analysis of General Results

2019-2020 2020-2021 # of Section # of Section Questions Weight Questions Weight Section 1 – Chumash Skills 24 20% 35 27% Section 2 – Chumash Vocabulary 10 8% 10 8% 20% 26 18% 22 ( ָפּ ָר ָשׁה) Section 3 – Chumash Knowledge Section 4 – Critical Thinking 4 3% 3 2% Section 5 – Dinim/Yediot Klaliot 18 15% 19 15% Section 6 – Navi Knowledge 13 11% 11 8% Section 7 – Hebrew Language Skills 20 17% 19 15% Section 8 – Torah Sheb'al Peh 3 3% 3 2% Section 9 – Tefillah 5 4% 5 4% Total: 119 100% 131 100%

Section III – Results for Students With and Without Learning Differences

2020-2021 No Reported Learning Diff Students With Learning Diff Grade 8 (All Populations): Number of Students: Number of Students: 1,540 670 870 392 199 193 AVG Score Male Female AVG Score Male Female Section 01: Chumash Skills 71% 68% 73% 57% 57% 58% Section 02: Chumash Vocabulary 77% 73% 80% 62% 61% 63% Section 03: Chumash Knowledge 73% 72% 74% 62% 64% 60% Section 04: Critical Thinking 40% 37% 41% 32% 34% 30% Section 05: Dinim / Yediot Klaliot 69% 67% 70% 57% 58% 57% Section 06: Navi Knowledge 45% 43% 47% 38% 39% 37% Section 07: Hebrew Language 61% 57% 65% 48% 48% 48% Section 08: Torah Sheba'al Peh 65% 68% 62% 53% 57% 49% Section 09: Tefillah 74% 73% 75% 61% 62% 61%

Overall Average Score (1-9): 67% 65% 69% 55% 55% 55%

Below is the same chart with the results we reported in our 2019-2020 analysis.

JSAT Level 8 2020-2021 Analysis of General Results

2019-2020 No Reported Learning Diff Students With Learning Diff Grade 8 (All Populations): Number of Students: Number of Students: 1,505 641 864 447 234 213 AVG Score Male Female AVG Score Male Female Section 01: Chumash Skills 77% 74% 78% 64% 62% 66% Section 02: Chumash Vocabulary 82% 79% 85% 70% 67% 73% Section 03: Chumash Knowledge 71% 71% 72% 59% 58% 60% Section 04: Critical Thinking 30% 33% 27% 23% 24% 22% Section 05: Dinim / Yediot Klaliot 80% 78% 81% 69% 68% 70% Section 06: Navi Knowledge 58% 54% 61% 47% 44% 51% Section 07: Hebrew Language 48% 45% 51% 35% 34% 36% Section 08: Torah Sheba'al Peh 66% 70% 63% 48% 49% 47% Section 09: Tefillah 74% 73% 75% 60% 60% 59%

Overall Average Score (1-9): 68% 66% 69% 56% 54% 57%

While there are variations in some of the individual section scores, the overall average scores for the exam (bottom row of the tables above) are mostly within one percentage point within each group in the year-over-year scoring. Learning Differences As shown in the table above, 392 of the 1,932 8th grade students (20%) who took the exam were reported to have learning differences. The average overall grade for students without learning differences was 67%, and the average for students with learning differences was 55%, which is a gap of 12% and quite significant. Overall, the gap was more notable for females (14%) than males (10%). In general, for students without learning difficulties, the overall average score for girls was four points higher than for boys. The girls also scored equal or higher than the boys in every mandatory section of the exam except for Torah Sh’bal Peh. Note: Students with learning differences are identified based on an IEP or schools identifying students who have learning differences. The number of students with learning differences might be higher as not all schools completed this section of the sign-up portion. If it was not noted at sign-up, we assumed students had no learning difficulties unless they had an IEP. Due to the possible gap between students with learning difficulties and those without, schools might wish to analyze these populations' results separately. In our interactive reporting software, there is the ability to focus on students with and without learning differences. However, in our static PDF reports, we grouped these two populations. In our analysis, which follows, we only review the mixed results of these two populations.

JSAT Level 8 2019-2020 Analysis of General Results

Section IV – Scores for All Test Takers (With and W/O Learning Differences)

2020-2021 ALL Students (With and W/O LD) Grade 8 (All Populations): Number of Students: 1,932 869 1,063 AVG Score Male Female Section 01: Chumash Skills 68% 65% 70% Section 02: Chumash Vocabulary 74% 70% 77% Section 03: Chumash Knowledge 71% 70% 72% Section 04: Critical Thinking 38% 36% 39% Section 05: Dinim / Yediot Klaliot 66% 65% 68% Section 06: Navi Knowledge 44% 42% 45% Section 07: Hebrew Language 59% 55% 62% Section 08: Torah Sheba'al Peh 62% 65% 60% Section 09: Tefillah 71% 70% 72%

Overall Score: 65% 63% 66%

Year-Over-Year Comparison – Early Trends

ALL Students (With and W/O LD) Grade 8 (All Populations): 2019-2020 2020-2021 Difference Number of Students: 1,952 1,932 -20 Section 01: Chumash Skills 73% 68% -5 Section 02: Chumash Vocabulary 79% 74% -5 Section 03: Chumash Knowledge 68% 71% +3 Section 04: Critical Thinking 28% 38% +10 Section 05: Dinim / Yediot Klaliot 77% 66% -11 Section 06: Navi Knowledge 56% 44% -12 Section 07: Hebrew Language 45% 59% +14 Section 08: Torah Sheba'al Peh 62% 62% - Section 09: Tefillah 71% 71% -

Overall Score: 65% 65% -

Although the average year-over-year score remained flat at 65%, there were variations in the individual sections of the exam. The most significant section gain was in the Hebrew Language section at +14 points and the Critical Thinking section at +10 points which most likely reflects the changes we made to the exam in these sections. The most significant downturn was in Navi at 12 points and Dinim/Yediot Klaliot at 11 points.

JSAT Level 8 2020-2021 Analysis of General Results

Overall Scores: In the mixed results (for students with and without difficulties), the average (or mean) score was 65%, with a standard deviation of 16.34. In other words, approximately 68% of all test takers scored between 49 and 81. These results are plotted on the Bell chart below:

Distribution of Overall Score for all Test Takers (Grade 8 ‐ 1,932 Students) Mean = 65 SD = 16.34 0.03

0.02

0.01

0 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 100

Distribution of Letter Grades (Overall / Sections 1-9):

Year-over-year, the number of students who scored an A or a B increased slightly to 41% from 40%. However, the number of students who scored an F increased from 16% to 19%. There was a reduction in the middle as students who scored a C or D decreased to 39% from 43%.

JSAT Level 8 2019-2020 Analysis of General Results

Distribution of Letter Grades by Section: # of Q: A B C D F Section 01: Chumash Skills 35 397 551 522 151 311 21% 29% 27% 8% 16%

Section 02: Chumash Vocabulary 10 780 530 217 156 249 40% 27% 11% 8% 13%

Section 03: Chumash Knowledge 26 634 439 411 166 282 33% 23% 21% 9% 15%

Section 04: Critical Thinking 3 194 N / A 455 N / A 1,283 10% - 24% - 66%

Section 05: Dinim / Yediot Klaliot 19 436 412 575 139 370 23% 21% 30% 7% 19%

Section 06: Navi Knowledge 11 92 203 166 N / A 1,471 5% 11% 9% - 76%

Section 07: Hebrew Language 19 452 213 357 118 792 23% 11% 18% 6% 41%

Section 08: Torah Sheba'al Peh 3 635 N / A 603 N / A 694 33% - 31% - 36%

Section 09: Tefillah 5 562 561 398 N / A 411 29% 29% 21% - 21%

Percentiles For a student to score in the 50th percentile or above, they needed to achieve an overall score of at least 66%. For a chart of the relationship between number correct, scaled scores and other scoring metrics, see the appendix at the ends of this report.

JSAT Level 8 2019-2020 Analysis of General Results

Section V – Analysis of Results by Section Section 01: Chumash Skills

Grade 8 (All Populations): 2019-2020 2020-2021 Difference Number of Students: 1,952 1,932 -42 Section 01: Chumash Skills AVG 73% 68% -5

2020-2021 ALL Students (With and W/O LD) # of Q: AVG Male Female Section 01: Chumash Skills (All) 35 68% 65% 70%

ALL Students (With and W/O LD) Grade 8 (All Populations): # of Q: 24/35 2019-2020 2020-2021 Difference Group 01: Decoding Standards 18/21 77% 68% -9 Group 02: Understanding the Text 4/6 55% 61% +6 Group 03: Rashi Standards 1/4 76% 70% -6 Group 04: Additional Standards 1/4 70% 77% +7

2020-2021 ALL Students (With and W/O LD) # of Q: AVG Male Female Group 01: Decoding Standards 21 68% 65% 70% Group 02: Understanding the Text 6 61% 59% 63% Group 03: Rashi Standards 4 70% 67% 73% Group 04: Additional Standards 4 77% 78% 77%

JSAT Level 8 2019-2020 Analysis of General Results

Overall, Chumash skills were down by five points from last year. Grades of an A or B decreased to 50% from 65%, and the weakest scoring area for two years in a row was the “Understanding the Text” group of standards. Among the groups of standards, the most significant drop was in the decoding standards, where the average score decreased from 77% to 68%. Overall, girls outperformed boys in nearly every category and, on average, scored four points higher than boys. Group 01: Decoding Standards. The Chumash Skills section of the exam was comprised of 35 questions divided into four groups of standards. The bulk of questions (21 of 35) were in the group that involved decoding skills. The decoding skills was composed of the following standards:

Decoding Standards # of Q: 2019-2020 2020-2021 Diff

of a word. 2/1 93% 82% -11 ֹשׁ ֶרשׁ Standard 01: Student can identify the three-letter of a word ֹשׁ ֶרשׁ Standard 02: Student can identify the three-letter 2/1 68% 72% +4 .is absent ֹשׁ ֶר שׁ even when one letter of the Standard 03: Student can identify a noun as singular or plural. 2/1 93% 96% +3 Standard 04: Student can identify a singular noun as masculine 1/1 89% 75% -14 or feminine. Standard 05: Student can identify a plural noun is masculine or 0/1 - 86% - feminine. Standard 06: Student understands that the number and gender of a noun determines the number and gender of its adjective. 2/1 86% 86% - .( ִאישׁ ָגּדוֹל / ִא ָשּׁה ְגּ ָדוֹלה) when ֹמ ֶשׁה ְו ָכ ֵלב Standard 07: Student can translate the prefixes of 1/1 95% 77% -18 . ְל ִמ ְצ ַר ִים , ִמ ִמּ ְצ ַר ִים .they appear with nouns e.g Standard 08: Student can translate a combined or contracted 1/1 76% 81% +5 .( ַבּ = ְבּ+ ַה) ַבּ ַבּ ִית or ְו ָה ִאישׁ .prefix e.g Standard 09: Student can translate two words that appear 0/1 - 81% - . ֵבּ ית ַפְּר ֹעה = ַה ַבּ ִית ֶשׁל ַפְּר ֹעה .e.g , ִבּ ְס ִמ יכוּת Standard 10: Student can translate the suffixes of singular nouns 1/2 78% 68% -10 . ָי ִדי, ָי ְד, ָי ֵד .that show possession, e.g Standard 11: Student can translate the suffixes of plural nouns 2/2 59% 69% +10 . ָי ַד ִי .that show possession e.g - 51% - 0/1 .ו' ַה ִה פּוּ Standard 12: Student can translate a word that has a to = ִמ ְצ ַר ְי ָמ ה .e.g ה"א ַה ְמּ ַג ָמּה Standard 13: Student can identify the 1/1 79% 46% -33 Egypt. Standard 14: Student can translate Hebrew numbers from 1- 0/1 - 23% - . ֵמ ָאה ֶﬠ ְשִׂר ים ְו ֶשׁ ַבע = e.g. 127 999,999 verb in the past ַקל/ ָפּ ַﬠל Standard 15: Student can translate a 2/2 64% 68% +4 . ָשׁ ַמר, ָשׁ ְמ ָרה, ָשׁ ַמְר ִתּ י .tense e.g verb in the present ַקל/ ָפּ ַﬠל Standard 16: Student can translate a 1/1 50% 57% +7 . ֵשׁוֹמר .tense e.g verb in the future ַקל/ ָפּ ַﬠל Standard 17: Student can translate a 0/1 - 48% - . ֶא ְשׁ ַמע, ִנ ְשׁ ַמע .tense e.g - 53% - 0/1 . ְ שׁ ֹ מר .e.g ָפּ ַﬠ ל Standard 18: Student can recognize a command in

JSAT Level 8 2019-2020 Analysis of General Results

Since this is the second year for which we have data, we can begin to look for trends. Students in both years did better with nouns than verbs, and as the standard number increased, the scores tended to decrease. Overall, students scored weaker in Chumash skills this year than last, although it varied a little by the standard. It should be noted that last year the Chumash skills section was the first section on the exam, whereas this year, it was moved to the start of Part B. It is also worth noting that the Chumash Skills section's actual weight this year was 28% versus 20% for last year. Let’s look at some of the questions where the scores diverged somewhat significantly from last year.

Decoding Standards # of Q: 2019-2020 2019-2020 Diff

of a word. 2/1 93% 82% -11 ֹשׁ ֶרשׁ Standard 01: Student can identify the three-letter

There was only one question on this standard, and it was as follows:

82% of students answered this question correctly. Last year there were two questions ְל ֹא ֲה ַבי when all letters were present, and those were for the words ֹשׁ ֶרשׁ related to finding a The average for those two questions was 95% and 92%, respectively. (Note . ְו ִה ְל ַבּ ְשׁ ָתּם and that a similar standard was present in the Hebrew Language section; see our comments for standard 53.)

Decoding Standards # of Q: 2019-2020 2019-2020 Diff

Standard 04: Student can identify a singular noun as masculine 1/1 89% 75% -14 or feminine.

There was only one question on this standard, and it was as follows:

This question was a little more complicated than last year since there were two words that ִמ ָטּ ה which is often the only thing students look for). The correct answer is) ה"א ended in a . ַמ ֶטּ ה as in סגול and not a נקבה is a sign of ה"א followed by a קמץ as the

JSAT Level 8 2019-2020 Analysis of General Results

Decoding Standards # of Q: 2019-2020 2019-2020 Diff

when ֹמ ֶשׁה ְו ָכ ֵלב Standard 07: Student can translate the prefixes of 1/1 95% 77% -18 . ְל ִמ ְצ ַר ִים , ִמ ִמּ ְצ ַר ִים .they appear with nouns e.g

The question for this standard was:

Only 77% of students answered this question correctly versus 95% for last year. About 9% of students chose A, and 10% chose C. Perhaps some students were thrown off as “in”. (However, one would think they would "ב" because no option translated the letter " ֵמ ֶא ֶר ץ." know it did not mean “from” or “to”.) Last year the word for this standard was

Decoding Standards # of Q: 2019-2020 2019-2020 Diff

Standard 10: Student can translate the suffixes of singular nouns 1/2 78% 68% -10 . ָי ִדי, ָי ְד, ָי ֵד .that show possession, e.g

There were two questions in this standard. In the first, students were asked to translate correctly as “my ִשׁ ְפ ָח ִתי of students answered 81% . " ִשׁ ְפ ָחתוֹ" and in the second " ִשׁ ְפ ָח ִתי" ”of students chose “his maid 55% , ִשׁ ְפ ָחתוֹ maid” with only 8% choosing “her maid”. For with 26% of students choosing “your maid”. " ְבּ ָי ֵד." Last year, 78% of students chose “your hand” as the correct translation for

Decoding Standards # of Q: 2019-2020 2019-2020 Diff

Standard 11: Student can translate the suffixes of plural nouns 2/2 59% 69% +10 . ָי ַד ִי .that show possession e.g

For standard 11, there was an uptick from last year by ten percentage points. There were " ִשׁ ְפ ַחוֹתי." and " ִשׁ ְפ ֵחוֹת ֶיה ם" two questions in this standard. Students were asked to translate The percentages correct were 86% and 52%, respectively. (For the latter, about 20% of students incorrectly chose “my maid” in the singular.) Last year, as well, there were two questions in this standard, and while 74% of students as “our graves”, this year only 44% correctly translated " ְק ָב ֵרינוּ" correctly translated .”as “your feet " ַר ְג ֶלי"

JSAT Level 8 2019-2020 Analysis of General Results

Decoding Standards # of Q: 2019-2020 2019-2020 Diff

- 51% - 0/1 .ו' ַה ִה פּוּ Standard 12: Student can translate a word that has a

As noted earlier, the further down the list of standards, the more difficulty students had. The selected .ו' ההיפוך One example of this is standard 12, where students struggled with a :This was the question ." ַו ְי ַס ֵפּ ר" word was

51% of students answered this one correctly (B). There was only one choice that translated this word in the past tense. About 22% of students chose D, and about 16% chose C.

Decoding Standards # of Q: 2019-2020 2019-2020 Diff

to = ִמ ְצ ַר ְי ָמ ה .e.g ה"א ַה ְמּ ַג ָמּה Standard 13: Student can identify the 1/1 79% 46% -33 Egypt.

”as “to the tent " ָה ֹא ֱה ָלה" For this standard, only 46% of students were able to translate while 38% incorrectly chose “the tent”. Last year, 79% of students were able to translate ה"א Presumably, this year’s question was more difficult due to the .” ְס דוֹם as “to " ְס ֹד ָמה" .being attached to an object as opposed to a place המגמה

Decoding Standards # of Q: 2019-2020 2019-2020 Diff

Standard 14: Student can translate Hebrew numbers from 1- 0/1 - 23% - . ֵמ ָאה ֶﬠ ְשִׂר ים ְו ֶשׁ ַבע = e.g., 127 999,999

The most challenging question in the Chumash skills section was this one:

JSAT Level 8 2019-2020 Analysis of General Results

Only 23% of students correctly selected C, with 69% of students choosing B. This type of question can be confusing because, unlike English, where the tens precede the ones, the is 74,000 and ארבעה ושבעים אלף ,Torah usually expresses the ones before the tens. Thus not 47,000.

Decoding Standards # of Q: 2019-2020 2019-2020 Diff

verb in the past ַקל/ ָפּ ַﬠל Standard 15: Student can translate a 2/2 64% 68% +4 . ָשׁ ַמר, ָשׁ ְמ ָרה, ָשׁ ַמְר ִתּ י .tense e.g verb in the present ַקל/ ָפּ ַﬠל Standard 16: Student can translate a 1/1 50% 57% +7 . ֵשׁוֹמר .tense e.g verb in the future ַקל/ ָפּ ַﬠל Standard 17: Student can translate a 0/1 - 48% - . ֶא ְשׁ ַמע, ִנ ְשׁ ַמע .tense e.g - 53% - 0/1 . ְ שׁ ֹ מר .e.g ָפּ ַﬠ ל Standard 18: Student can recognize a command in set of standards. In particular, girls קל\פעל There was some improvement overall in the scored nine points higher than boys on both standards 15 and 17. However, overall, both groups struggled to translate a future tense verb correctly. For standard 17, only 48% of as “the nations " ַי ַﬠ ְבדוּ ַה ִגּוֹי ם" students could accurately translate the future tense phrase shall serve”. One-quarter of all students thought it meant “the nations have served” and 16% chose “serve the nations” (a command). Group 02: Understanding the Text

ALL Students (With and W/O LD) Grade 8 (All Populations): # of Q: 2019-2020 2020-2021 Difference Group 02: Understanding the Text 4/6 55% 61% +6

2020-2021 ALL Students (With and W/O LD) # of Q: AVG Male Female Group 02: Understanding the Text 6 62% 59% 63% As noted earlier, this was the weakest scoring group of standards from the Chumash Skills section, and there was only a slight difference between boys and girls. In a sense, this section might be the most important, as it represents a culmination of being able to put together all the necessary disparate skills which are needed to translate and .correctly פסוק understand a This group contained the following five standards:

Understanding the Text Standards # of Q: 2019-2020 2019-2020 Diff

Standard 19: Student can identify the subjects and objects in a 1/1 66% 34% -32 . ָפּסוּק Standard 20: Student can identify the correct translation of a 0/1 - 45% - .using context clues ָפּסוּק Standard 21: Student can answer questions on the text using 1/2 55% 75% +20 . ְלשׁוֹן ַה ָפּסוּק not previously ָפּסוּק Standard 22: Student can comprehend a 1/1 36% 73% +37 learned.

JSAT Level 8 2019-2020 Analysis of General Results

Once again, let us examine some of these standards in more detail.

Understanding the Text Standards # of Q: 2019-2020 2019-2020 Diff

Standard 19: Student can identify the subjects and objects in a 1/1 66% 34% -32 . ָפּסוּק

There was a considerable drop in this standard from last year. This was last year’s question:

This year’s question was:

In this year’s question, 30% of students chose B, and about 24% chose D instead of the השם starts with פסוק correct answer, which was A. This question was tricky because the refers to "ויעל" to stretch his hand over the land of Egypt and the word משה telling "ויאכל concludes פסוק someone or something going over the land of Egypt. However, the .משה which would make it difficult to refer to the hand of את כל עשב הארץ"

Understanding the Text Standards # of Q: 2019-2020 2019-2020 Diff

Standard 20: Student can identify the correct translation of a 0/1 - 45% .using context clues ָפּסוּק

Students also struggled with standard 20, which asked them to discover a word's meaning based on context clues. Only 45% of students answered the following question correctly:

The second ."מי עשה הדבר הזה" is pretty simple as the question is פסוק The first part of the The two .גדעון בן יואש עשה הדבר הזה is simple as well as the answer is פסוק part of the should not be too difficult ויבקשו words in the middle are a little more difficult. The word .”Thus, the most likely answer is “they inquired ."בבקשה" as it is related to the familiar

JSAT Level 8 2019-2020 Analysis of General Results

About 36% of students chose A (and they swore), which doesn’t fit the narrative all that well, and the other choices were even less suitable. and לשון הפסוק There was a significant improvement in standards 21 and 22 (answering in were פסוקים understanding a text not previously learned). Part of this is likely because the .presented last year פסוקים somewhat easier to understand than the Group 03: Rashi Standards

ALL Students (With and W/O LD) Grade 8 (All Populations): # of Q: 2019-2020 2020-2021 Difference Group 03: Rashi Standards 1/4 76% 70% -6

2020-2021 ALL Students (With and W/O LD) # of Q: AVG Male Female Group 03: Rashi Standards 4 71% 67% 73%

This group contained the three standards described below.

Rashi Standards # of Q: 2019-2020 2019-2020 Diff

JSAT L8 - Standard 24: Student can identify letters and 0/1 - 77% - .( ְנ ֻקדּוֹת script (with and without ַר ִשׁ" י words in ִדּבּוּר ַה ַמּ ְת ִחיל JSAT L8 - Standard 25: Student knows what a 1/1 76% 86% +10 .is and can identify it ַר ִשׁ"י in - 59% - 0/2 . ְשׁ ֵא ַלת ַר ִשׁ"י JSAT L8 - Standard 26: Student can identify

Three-quarters of students were able to correctly match a phrase in typescript to Rashi standard that was officially assessed רש"י script for standard 24. Standard 25 was the only Last year’s average for .רש"י of דיבור המתחיל last year, and it asked students to identify the this question was 76% versus 86% for this year. There were two questions that asked and the average score for these two questions ,רש"י students to determine the question of .text רש"י was 59%. Students were given a translated version of the Chumash and Overall, girls scored six points better than boys on the Rashi standards. Group 04: Additional Standards

ALL Students (With and W/O LD) Grade 8 (All Populations): # of Q: 2019-2020 2020-2021 Difference Group 04: Additional Standards 1/4 70% 77% +7

JSAT Level 8 2019-2020 Analysis of General Results

# of Q: AVG Score Male Female Group 04: Additional Standards 4 77.1% 77.5% 76.8%

Additional Standards # of Q: 2019-2020 2019-2020 Diff

ִגּ ַימ ְטִר ָיּה JSAT L8 - Standard 27: Student can identify the - 73% - equivalent of Hebrew letters and words.

of students 73% .גמטריה Standard 27 asked students to determine the correct value of a as 67. It should be noted "זבחים" were able to correctly determine the value of the word that a very similar question was asked as part of the Hebrew Language section (standard .correctly "פסח" of the word גמטריה and there 66% of students were able to select the ,(55 Thus, the average of this standard for this year is really closer to 69%.

Additional Standards # of Q: 2019-2020 2019-2020 Diff

ֻח ָמּשׁ in ָפּ סוּק JSAT L8 - Standard 28: Student can locate a - 96% - . ָפּסוּק and , ֶפּ ֶרק , ֵס ֶפ ר when given JSAT L8 - Standard 29: Student can correctly pronounce - 77% - .( ֹכּ ַ ח .at end of word (e.g ַפּ ַתח ְגּ ָנוּב ה a ֻח ָמּשׁ in ֲﬠ ִל יּוֹת JSAT L8 - Standard 30: Student can identify etc.) and understands what they are used 70% 63% -7 ְשׁ ִל ִישׁי , ֵשׁ ִני .e.g) for.

with a very high degree of accuracy at פסוק In standard 28, students were able to locate a at the end of פתח גנובה In addition, 77% of students understood how to pronounce a .96% a word. However, the biggest struggle in this group of standards was standard 30, which meant. This is the only question that חומש in a עליות asked students to identify what the was repeated verbatim from last year. What is somewhat interesting is that last year 82% of boys got this question correct versus 60% for girls. This year, only 68% of boys got this question correct versus 58% for girls. Last year we suggested boys might tend to do better on this question as many read from the Torah as part of their Bar Mitzvah celebration. This year there was significant regression among the boys, and one wonders if this might be due to COVID-19 as presumably fewer boys read from the Torah this year as part of their Bar Mitzvah preparation. Summary of Section 01: Chumash Skills: While students appeared to be strong in some of the more basic skills, such as: or translating , ַר ִבּ ים or ָי ִחיד , ְנ ֵק ָבה or ָז ָכר understanding if a word is , ֶשׁוֹרשׁ identifying a prefixes and some the noun suffixes, they struggled with some of the more difficult skills verbs or plural noun suffixes. Furthermore, students struggled to ַקל such as interpreting .directly from the text ָפּסוּק put these skills all together and be able to decipher a

JSAT Level 8 2019-2020 Analysis of General Results

Section 02: Chumash Vocabulary

ALL Students (With and W/O LD) # of Q: 2019-2020 2020-2021 Difference Section 02: Chumash Vocabulary 10/10 79% 74% -5

2020-2021 # of Q: AVG Score Male Female Section 02: Chumash Vocabulary 10 74% 70% 77%

The average score for this section was 74%, which is down five points from last year. Scores of an A or B were down to 67% from 80%, and grades of an F nearly doubled from 7% to 13%. Overall, girls did better than boys by six points. The words that students were asked to translate were chosen from the list of vocabulary words in the standards. These are the ten words and their scores in order of percentage correct: 92% ָנ ַפל 90% ֶק ֶב ר 81% ֵא ֶל ה 80% מוּת 78% ְכּ ִל י 77% ְבּ ֵה ָמה 76% ֻח ָקּ ה 63% ָח ָנ ה 53% ַא 50% ֵא ם

JSAT Level 8 2019-2020 Analysis of General Results

The reason for this is likely due to spelling as . ַא and ֵ א ם The most difficult words were .(brother) ַ אח only / however) with) ַ א if) and) ִ א ם mother) with) ֵ א ם students confused Section 03: Chumash Knowledge

ALL Students (With and W/O LD) # of Q: 2019-2020 2020-2021 Difference Section 03: Chumash Knowledge 22/26 68% 71% +3

2020-2021 Section 03: Chumash Knowledge # of Q: AVG Score Male Female 26 71% 70% 71%

The purpose of the Chumash Knowledge section was to determine the general level of in the Chumash. It could be ִמ ְצוֹת knowledge students possessed about basic stories or exam on Chumash. As with other sections of the exam, there were ָפּ ָר ָשׁה considered a easier questions more difficult ones. Overall, the Chumash Knowledge section's average score was 72%, which is three points higher than last year. A’s and B’s were up to 56% from 50%. with most of the questions coming ֻח ָמּשׁ The standards were broken up by the books of . ְשׁמוֹת and ְבּ ֵר ִאשׁית from the books of

JSAT Level 8 2019-2020 Analysis of General Results

Breakdown by Sefer

Chumash Knowledge Standards # of Q: 2019-2020 2019-2020 Diff

+10 76% 66% 11/13 ְבּ ֵר ִאשׁ ית Standard 32: Chumash Knowledge -3 66% 69% 7/8 ְשׁ מוֹת Standard 33: Chumash Knowledge -3 75% 78% 3/2 ַו ִיּ ְק ָר א Standard 34: Chumash Knowledge -24 49% 73% 1/2 ַבּ ִמּ ְד ָבּ ר Standard 35: Chumash Knowledge - 80% - 0/1 ְדּ ָבִר ים Standard 36: Chumash Knowledge

The easiest questions in the .ספר בראשית As can be seen, most of the gains came from to kill all Jewish baby פרעה Chumash Knowledge section related to the instruction of A more difficult question was .(91%) כתונת פסים a יוסף giving יעקב boys (93%), and to do non-Jews have? (77% correct.) Only 66% of students were able to מצות how many as locust. Among the more difficult questions was, “Who ארבה describe the plague of correct). The most difficult question had to do 43%) ”? מצרים out of יוסף took the bones of of students got this right with 36% 26%) משכן in the מזבח הזהב with the location of the ,was located there). Last year, as well מזבח despite the fact no קודש הקדשים choosing the . משכן in the כלים students had difficulty with the location of the Section 04: Critical Thinking

ALL Students (With and W/O LD) # of Q: 2019-2020 2020-2021 Difference Section 04: Critical Thinking 4/3 28% 38% +10

2020-2021 ALL Students (With and W/O LD) # of Q: AVG Score Male Female Section 04: Critical Thinking 3 38% 36% 39%

JSAT Level 8 2019-2020 Analysis of General Results

Last year the results for critical thinking were very poor. This year an effort was made to reduce the original number of questions from six to three. Also, the passage which students were asked to read was much shorter and not reliant on math skills as last year. While these tweaks helped raise the average score by ten points (and for females by 13.5 points), the overall results were still weak. 34% of students scored a D or above this year versus 29% last year. Grades of an F this year were down to 66% from 71%. Section 05: Dinim / Yediot Klaliot

ALL Students (With and W/O LD) # of Q: 2019-2020 2020-2021 Difference Section 05: Dinim / Yediot Klaliot 18/19 77% 66% -11

2020-2021 # of Q: AVG Score Male Female Section 05: Dinim / Yediot Klaliot 19 66% 65% 68%

JSAT Level 8 2019-2020 Analysis of General Results

The average score for Dinim/Yediot Klaliot was down eleven points from last year. Students scoring an A or a B were down to 44% from 73%, and an F score increased to 19% from 6%. Apparently, students found this year’s Dinim section more difficult. Taking a quick glance at some of the questions in this section, 95% of students knew that a Jew is forbidden to cook milk and meat together in a pot. The next easiest question פסח before שבת and the ,(86% – נעילה) יום כיפור related to the name of the final prayer on of students could identify the correct blessing before 76% .(82%) שבת הגדול is known as when eating the שהחיינו of students knew that one makes a 69% ,אתרוג and לולב shaking a refers to the holiday of זמן חירותנו first fruit of a season. Only 50% of students knew that was a holiday established by the Rabbis primarily for giving חנוכה knew that 38% ,פסח מזוזה were written inside a פרשיות Only 18% knew which .(להודות ולהלל) השם thanks to .(שמע of פרשיות of students answered all three 43%) Section 06: Navi Knowledge

ALL Students (With and W/O LD) # of Q: 2019-2020 2020-2021 Difference Section 06: Navi Knowledge 13/11 56% 44% -12

2020-2021 # of Q: AVG Score Male Female Section 06: Navi Knowledge 11 44% 42% 45%

JSAT Level 8 2019-2020 Analysis of General Results

Navi scores were down twelve points on average, going from 56% to 44%. Scores of an A or B were down to 16% from 23%, and grades of a D or F were up to 76% from 54%. (There were eleven questions scored on the exam; hence no opportunity for a D score.) When we look at the results by the book of Navi, we see as follows: 2019-2020 2020-2021 ספר of Questions Percentage # of Questions Percentage # יהושע 30% 1 60% 2 שופטים 52% 1 64% 2 שמואל א' 52% 4 44% 4 שמואל ב' 43% 4 44% 3 יונה N / A 1 21%

Below is a summary of the questions students were asked for this section and the percentage scored.

JSAT Level 8 2019-2020 Analysis of General Results

As mentioned last year, perhaps this section could be improved by providing students with a list of names, places, and events and noting in the standards what exactly students need to know about these people, places, or events. Section 07: Hebrew Language # of Q: 2019-2020 2020-2021 Difference Section 07: Hebrew Language 20/19 45% 59% +14

2020-2021 AVG Score Male Female Section 07: Hebrew Language 19 59% 55% 62%

JSAT Level 8 2019-2020 Analysis of General Results

As mentioned at the start of this analysis, one of the most significant changes to this year’s exam was the Hebrew Language section's overhaul. We moved this section to Part A to reduce the chance of student fatigue. We also reduced the number of reading passages from two to one and provided practice reading materials. Another improvement not mentioned earlier is that we made sure all question choices in the Hebrew Language section were aligned vertically and not horizontally. This might have caused confusion last year when the answer choices went from right-to-left for some questions, but they were still left-to-right like the rest of the exam on the answer sheet. By having all answer choices placed vertically, we hope any possible confusion was reduced. As to the actual results, as can be seen from the tables above, the average score increased 13 points to 59%, the number of A’s and B’s increased to 34% from 12%, and the number of F’s decreased from 75% to 41%. Girls outperformed the boys by 7 points. Reading Comprehension:

Hebrew Language 2019-2020 2020-2021 Difference Reading Comprehension 44% 56% +12

Reading comprehension scores were up 12 points. The following is a breakdown by standard:

Hebrew Language Reading Comprehension Standards # of Q: 2019-2020 2020-2021 Diff

Standard 49: Student can identify the most accurate Hebrew 2/3 40% 63% +23 translation of sentences in the passage. Standard 50: Student can identify factually correct statements 2/3 45% 52% +7 about events or characters in the passage. Standard 51: Student can accurately identify the mood of 0/1 N /A 66% - characters in the passage, e.g. happy, sad, concerned, excited. Standard 52: Student can identify logical conclusions that may 3/2 45% 49% +4% be drawn from the passage.

Hebrew Language 2019-2020 2020-2021 Difference Hebrew Grammar Skills 44% 61% +17

As can be seen in the table above, Hebrew Grammar skills scores were up 17 points. The following is a breakdown by standard.

Hebrew Language Hebrew Grammar Skills # of Q: 2019-2020 2020-2021 Diff

form in all ְשׁ ֵל ִמים Standard 53: Student can identify verbs in the 5/4 48% 58% +10 . ִבּ ְנ ָי ִנים

JSAT Level 8 2019-2020 Analysis of General Results

Standard 55: Student can identify the numerical value of 0/1 N /A 66% - Hebrew letters. JSAT L8 - Standard 56: Student can properly sequence letters of 1/2 40% 68% +28 the Hebrew alphabet. JSAT L8 - Standard 58: Student can identify simple 3/3 47% 57% +10 contractions.

As alluded to earlier, this section has some overlap with the Chumash skills section. שורש Thus, for example, for one question in standard 53, students were asked to find the of students answered this question correctly. Compare this to 85% ."התלבשתי" of the word of a word. This year the שורש standard 01, which also required students to identify the average for this question in standard 01 was 82%, and last year it was 93%. Another example of the overlap between the Chumash and Hebrew sections is the following question:

Only 41% of students answered this question correctly. Compare this to the results of standard 17 noted earlier where only 48% of students were able to interpret the phrase correctly in the proper tense. Thus, understanding tenses seems to be a general יעבדו הגוים area of confusion for students both in Chumash and in Hebrew Language classes. Overall, the biggest increase in this section was in standard 56, which contained two questions and asked students to properly sequence the letters of the Hebrew aleph-bet (i.e., which word would be found first or last in a dictionary). This standard saw an improvement of 28 points. Section 08: Torah Shb’al Peh

# of Q: 2019-2020 2020-2021 Difference Section 08: Torah Sheba'al Peh 3/3 62% 62% -

2020-2021 AVG Score Male Female Section 08: Torah Sheba'al Peh 3 62% 65% 60%

JSAT Level 8 2019-2020 Analysis of General Results

In this section, year-over-year results were essentially the same. This is the only section of the mandatory exam where boys outperformed the girls, and they did so by 5 points. There were only three questions in this section. The average score for each question ranged between 58%-67%. Section 09: Teffilla

# of Q: ALL Students (With and W/O LD) 2019-2020 2020-2021 Difference Section 09: Tefillah 5/5 71% 71% -

# of Q: 2020-2021 AVG Score Male Female Section 09: Tefillah 5 71% 70% 72%

JSAT Level 8 2019-2020 Analysis of General Results

This section contained five questions and three standards and was worth 4% overall. The average score for this section was 71%. Here too, the year-over-year scores were almost exactly uniform, and there was no significant difference between boys and girls.

Tefillah Standards # of Q: 2019-2020 2019-2020 Diff

JSAT L8 - Standard 72: Students knows on which occasion a 0/1 - 85% - given prayer is recited. a given ְתּ ִפ ָלּה JSAT L8 - Standard 73: Student can identify which 2/2 64% 65% +1 text is from. JSAT L8 - Standard 74: Student can identify the main idea or 3/2 75% 70% -5 theme of a given prayer.

is recited and that על הניסים As we take a look at these standards, standard 72 asked when was apparently very easy. For standard 73, we found that 70% of students were able to as coming from "ובטובו הגדול תמיד לא חסר לנו ואל יחסר לנו מזון לעולם ועד" identify the words המאיר and 60% identified the words of (על המחיה thought it was from 14%) ברכת המזון Regarding standard 74, about 85% of students .ברכות קריאת שמע as coming from לעולם וכו' while only 56% of ואהבת את ה' אלוקך וכו' were able to identify the main idea of the words .פותח את ידך ומשביע לכל חי רצון students were able to identify the main idea of the phrase

JSAT Level 8 2019-2020 Analysis of General Results

Section 10: Gemara (Optional)

2020-2021 No Reported Learning Diff Students With Learning Diff Grade 8 (All Populations): Number of Students: Number of Students: 286 217 69 99 78 21 AVG Score Male Female AVG Score Male Female Section 10: Gemara (Optional) 60% 61% 56% 47% 48% 43%

2019-2020 No Reported Learning Diff Students With Learning Diff Grade 8 (All Populations): Number of Students: Number of Students: 475 310 165 156 100 56 AVG Score Male Female AVG Score Male Female Section 10: Gemara (Optional) 59% 58% 60% 48% 49% 46%

The Gemara section was optional and scored separately from the rest of the exam. Initially, there were 25 questions in the exam; however, on the advice of Dr. Myszkowski, three questions were dropped to maintain internal reliability.

2020-2021 ALL Students (With and W/O LD) Grade 8 (All Populations): Number of Students: 385 295 90 AVG Score Male Female Section 10: Gemara (Optional) 57% 58% 53%

2019-2020 ALL Students (With and W/O LD) Grade 8 (All Populations): Number of Students: 631 410 221 AVG Score Male Female Section 10: Gemara (Optional) 56% 56% 56%

JSAT Level 8 2019-2020 Analysis of General Results

The number of students who took the Gemara section this year as opposed to last year was significantly less; however, the average grades were more or less the same with the overall average score being 57% vs 56%. The number of questions remained the same at 22. The percentage of A’s and B’s went to 28% from 27% and the number of F’s increased to 42% from 40%. Specific Text for Study The Gemarah section contained two sections. One was based on a specific text chosen for study, which this year was Makkot 2a. The second section asked general questions not was גמרא related to the particular text per se. For the specific text chosen, a copy of the provided. 2019-2020 2020-2021 + / - Specific Text Chosen for Study 54% 52% -2 Standards JSAT L8 - Standard 76: Student can identify a selected text as 67% 50% -17 being a statement, question, answer, proof, or rejection of a proof. JSAT L8 - Standard 77: Student can demonstrate understanding 45% 46% +1 of a selected statement, question, answer, or proof. JSAT L8 - Standard 78: Translate all parts of the text (including - 70% - .( ָר ֵאשׁי ֵתּבוֹת JSAT L8 - Standard 79: Student can identify where common 69% 59% -10 punctuation marks are appropriate e.g. question mark, comma, period etc. JSAT L8 - Standard 82: Student can identify a selected text as - 37% - . ֲא ָמוֹר ִא ים or a discussion of , ִמ ְשׁ ָנה, ָבּ ַר ְי ָית א being part of a JSAT L8 - Standard 84: Student understands the conclusion of 41% 38% -3 and any relevant logical or halachic outcomes of the ְגּ ָמ ָרא the . ְסוּג ָיא

Year-over-year, the overall results for this group of standards were basically the same. This year the average score was 52%, as opposed to 54% last year.

JSAT Level 8 2019-2020 Analysis of General Results

If we take a further look at some of the standards, we see the following. Standard 76 had an average score of 50% and consisted of these two questions:

For the first question, 56% of students identified D as the correct answer. For the second question only 43% of students correctly identified C as the correct answer. Students scored 59% on standard 79, which consisted of the following two questions:

For the first question, 62% of students correctly identified B as the answer. Only 53% of students were able to identify C as the correct answer for the second question. (24% chose B and 17% chose D.) Standard 77, where the average score was 46%, consisted of three questions. One of them was as follows:

JSAT Level 8 2019-2020 Analysis of General Results

Only 45% of students were able to correctly identify C as the correct answer despite it (.chose A 27%) .משנה being a law mentioned in the Standard 84 consisted of the following question:

Only 38% of students were able to answer this question correctly. General Gemara Concepts The next portion of the Gemara section consisted of general questions not related to the specific text of study. The results for these standards were as follows:

Gemara Concepts (General) 55% 62% +7 Standards JSAT L8 - Standard 89: Student can translate, explain or apply 78% 82% +4 key terms of the Gemara. JSAT L8 - Standard 90: Student can decipher and translate the - 56% - . ָר ֵאשׁי ֵתּבוֹת following JSAT L8 - Standard 91: Student understands the meaning of - 60% - . ְגּ ָמ ָרא these words commonly used in the discussion of JSAT L8 - Standard 92: Student can translate the following 47% 41% -6 words and identify them as a statement, question, answer, or proof. JSAT L8 - Standard 93: Student can translate common 61% 67% +6 vocabulary words.

Year-over-year results were a little better for this section going from 55% to 62%.

JSAT Level 8 2019-2020 Analysis of General Results

For standard 89 which consisted of two questions, we found that 86% of students could .was ברייתא was and 79% of students could explain what a קל וחומר explain what a .meant אע"ג For standard 90, we saw that 55% of students could decipher what תלמיד Standard 91 at 60% was interesting in that 82% of students could explain what a meant (29% thought it was a תירוץ was, however only 37% knew what the word חכם proof). אלא Standard 92 consisted of two questions. Only 42% of students understood that generally indicates the start of an answer. (24% thought it was the start of a statement, and another 24% thought it was the start of proof.) related to) הני מילי For standard 93, we saw that 76% of students were able to translate in the specific text chosen for study). Additionally, 69% of students were able מנא הני מילי .לקמן and 55% were able to translate that word ,איכא דאמרי to translate Concluding Remarks Early feedback from the exam indicates that many teachers and students felt that the exam was fair overall. Also, the ranking of student results was generally in line with school expectations (i.e., students who do better in general in Judaic Studies tended to do better on this exam). We are beginning to see some emerging trends in year-over-year results; however, time will tell how things continue and how schools attempt to meet the challenge of raising these scores even higher. We hope you found this review informative and helpful. As always, please feel to reach out to CoJDS with any feedback you might have. Rabbi Tzvi Daum CoJDS

JSAT Level 8 2019-2020 - Scoring Tables

Scoring Table Chart The table below demonstrates the correlation between an overall score and its percentile. The table also indicates the number of students who achieved a given score and the letter grade assigned for each score. With 131 questions, each question was worth .76 points (NC = Number correct). If the NC column skips a number, no student answered that exact number of questions correctly. (Scores rounded to nearest whole number except z-scores.) NC Scaled Percentage Percentile Z- Count Grade Score Score Score Score 130 1591 99 100 2.10 2 A 129 1581 98 100 2.05 2 A 128 1572 98 100 2.00 5 A 127 1563 97 99 1.96 3 A 126 1553 96 99 1.91 7 A 125 1544 95 99 1.86 8 A 124 1535 95 98 1.82 7 A 123 1525 94 98 1.77 9 A 122 1516 93 98 1.72 5 A 121 1507 92 97 1.68 10 A 120 1497 92 97 1.63 10 A 119 1488 91 96 1.58 15 A 118 1479 90 95 1.54 19 A 117 1469 89 94 1.49 20 A 116 1460 89 93 1.44 13 A 115 1451 88 92 1.40 20 A 114 1441 87 91 1.35 26 A 113 1432 86 90 1.30 16 A 112 1423 85 89 1.26 27 A 111 1413 85 88 1.21 21 A 110 1404 84 87 1.16 18 A 109 1395 83 86 1.12 25 B 108 1385 82 84 1.07 20 B 107 1376 82 83 1.02 16 B 106 1366 81 82 0.98 34 B 105 1357 80 80 0.93 33 B 104 1348 79 79 0.88 33 B 103 1338 79 77 0.84 28 B 102 1329 78 75 0.79 37 B 101 1320 77 74 0.74 28 B 100 1310 76 72 0.69 44 B 99 1301 76 70 0.65 35 B

Appendix: JSAT Level 8 2019-2020 Scoring Table Chart

NC Scaled Percentage Percentile Z- Count Grade Score Score Score Score 98 1292 75 68 0.60 28 B 97 1282 74 66 0.55 35 B 96 1273 73 65 0.51 36 B 95 1264 73 63 0.46 25 B 94 1254 72 62 0.41 29 B 93 1245 71 60 0.37 34 B 92 1236 70 58 0.32 30 B 91 1226 69 57 0.27 27 C 90 1217 69 55 0.23 33 C 89 1208 68 54 0.18 28 C 88 1198 67 52 0.13 43 C 87 1189 66 50 0.09 29 C 86 1180 66 48 0.04 25 C 85 1170 65 47 -0.01 24 C 84 1161 64 46 -0.05 33 C 83 1152 63 44 -0.10 23 C 82 1142 63 43 -0.15 34 C 81 1133 62 41 -0.19 28 C 80 1124 61 40 -0.24 19 C 79 1114 60 39 -0.29 30 C 78 1105 60 37 -0.33 31 C 77 1096 59 35 -0.38 30 C 76 1086 58 34 -0.43 28 C 75 1077 57 32 -0.47 31 C 74 1068 56 31 -0.52 27 C 73 1058 56 29 -0.57 22 C 72 1049 55 28 -0.61 33 C 71 1040 54 26 -0.66 27 D 70 1030 53 25 -0.71 26 D 69 1021 53 24 -0.75 25 D 68 1012 52 23 -0.80 18 D 67 1002 51 22 -0.85 24 D 66 993 50 20 -0.89 21 D 65 984 50 19 -0.94 27 D 64 974 49 18 -0.99 28 F 63 965 48 16 -1.03 21 F 62 956 47 15 -1.08 15 F 61 946 47 15 -1.13 20 F 60 937 46 14 -1.17 17 F 59 928 45 13 -1.22 19 F 58 918 44 12 -1.27 18 F 57 909 44 11 -1.31 17 F 56 899 43 10 -1.36 19 F

JSAT Level 8 2019-2020 - Scoring Tables

NC Scaled Percentage Percentile Z- Count Grade Score Score Score Score 55 890 42 9 -1.41 13 F 54 881 41 8 -1.45 11 F 53 871 40 7 -1.50 20 F 52 862 40 7 -1.55 9 F 51 853 39 6 -1.59 12 F 50 843 38 6 -1.64 10 F 49 834 37 5 -1.69 8 F 48 825 37 5 -1.73 11 F 47 815 36 4 -1.78 10 F 46 806 35 4 -1.83 3 F 45 797 34 3 -1.87 8 F 44 787 34 3 -1.92 9 F 43 778 33 3 -1.97 8 F 42 769 32 2 -2.01 4 F 41 759 31 2 -2.06 6 F 40 750 31 2 -2.11 5 F 39 741 30 2 -2.15 2 F 38 731 29 1 -2.20 4 F 37 722 28 1 -2.25 3 F 36 713 27 1 -2.29 3 F 35 703 27 1 -2.34 3 F 34 694 26 1 -2.39 4 F 33 685 25 1 -2.43 1 F 32 675 24 0 -2.48 5 F 30 657 23 0 -2.57 1 F 29 647 22 0 -2.62 1 F 27 629 21 0 -2.71 2 F 21 573 16 0 -2.99 1 F