Submitted by Laura Bishop Communications
Rutherford, N.J. - A major research study from Harvard and Stanford universities highlighted Rutherford Public Schools for exceeding pre-pandemic student performance in both math and reading.
RPS, serving grades pre-K to 12, was one of 106 districts nationwide and one of five in New Jersey with data showing “fully recovered” performance levels. The Education Recovery Scorecard, which was released on February 11, used test score results from 8,719 school districts in 43 states to analyze how students have rebounded from the devastating educational impacts of the pandemic.
The other New Jersey school districts cited as “fully recovered” in the study are Princeton, Montclair, Montgomery Township, and Livingston.
The project by the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University and the Educational Opportunity Project at Stanford University is now in its third year. The Education Recovery Scorecard showed that between 2019 and 2024, Rutherford math scores improved by a quarter of a grade level and reading scores grew by half a grade level.
Additionally, Rutherford was among a minority of districts that saw an increase in reading between 2019 through 2022, during the height of the pandemic.
The distinctions are validating for Superintendent Jack Hurley.
Rutherford Public Schools took a proactive approach to instruction during Covid that Hurley believes prevented learning loss down the road.
“We figured out a way to stay open for the kids who would struggle the most if we were closed. Our initial focus was on pre-k to third-grade students and students receiving special education services,” he said. “We knew we needed to provide full days for these students, and bring all our students back as quickly as possible.”
Shortly after the pandemic began in March 2020, Hurley formed a committee of 95 administrators and teachers across the district’s six schools and gave them two weeks to come up with recommendations.
Over the summer of 2020, a seven-member steering committee met two or three days during the week and often worked weekends to determine how to hold in-person instruction within strict pandemic safety protocols.
The performance in the Education Recovery Scorecard is not the first time that the district – and Hurley himself – have earned recognition. Hurley was named New Jersey Superintendent of the Year by the New Jersey Association of School Administrators in October. The district also has won numerous communications awards, most recently in 2024 from the New Jersey School Public Relations Association.
"The results of the Education Recovery Scorecard are a testament to Rutherford Public Schools’ caring team," Hurley said, “The staff at Rutherford Public Schools puts students first every day. We continue to be resourceful and dedicated to helping our students thrive.”
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