New Testing Vehicle for COOP High School Entrance Examination

This fall, eighth grade students in Catholic elementary schools and public school students seeking admission to an Archdiocesan Catholic high school will take a new testing vehicle under the Cooperative Admissions Examination Program (COOP) to assist school staff in evaluating freshmen candidates.

The High School Placement Test (HSPT), produced by Scholastic Testing Services, Inc., replaces a previous test designed by CTB McGraw-Hill that the company is not expected to continue offering.  

The new version of the COOP exam is a comprehensive high school admissions guide that has been used extensively throughout the nation for over 50 years. The test, which is updated each year, provides each participating school with score reports highlighting details of performance of individual students.           

The COOP exam measures scholastic aptitude in verbal and non-verbal abilities and achievement in reading, language arts and mathematics. However, it is only one criterion for admission to participating Catholic high schools in the Archdiocese of Newark, When used in conjunction with effort and performance ratings from the sixth, seventh and eighth grades, as well as previous standardized test results, secondary schools are able to gauge the readiness of applicants seeking admission to college preparatory educational programs. Most high schools also consider other factors such as attendance and disciplinary records when making admissions decisions, and some may choose to consider essays and interviews as part of their admissions process.

Each year, some 5,000 eighth grade students seeking to enter a Catholic high school in the Archdiocese of Newark and Diocese of Paterson take the COOP exam.

Specific information about the dates and procedures for registering for the 2017 COOP exam will be available on the COOP website – http://njcoopexam.org.