New Jersey’s controversial rules that force students to pass PARCC tests before graduating from high school are already regarded as confusing and chaotic. Now, they’ve been declared invalid.

A panel of state appellate court judges on Monday struck down the requirement that students must pass state exams in Algebra I and 10th grade English, saying that the rules — which were put into place in 2016, to take effect with the class of 2020 — don’t match a state law that requires students to pass just a single test in 11th grade in order to graduate.

The ruling will not take effect for 30 days, giving the state Department of Education time to appeal to the state Supreme Court if it wants, the judges wrote. If the decision holds, though, it will allow students to graduate without having passed the controversial exams, said Jessica Levin, attorney for the Education Law Center, which filed the legal challenge along with the ACLU and civil rights groups.

“Even before the regulations were enacted in 2016, we urged the Department of Education to withdraw these rules because they clearly violate state law," Levin said. “Today’s ruling vindicates our position." (The ruling will have no impact on any other state-mandated graduation requirements.)

The state Department of Education and Attorney General’s Office are reviewing options and assessing next steps while aiming to minimize the impact on students, the department said in a statement.

"The guiding factor of utmost importance will continue to be what is best for the students of New Jersey,” state Education Commissioner Lamont Repollet said.

The impact of the decision will depend on what happens next.

The court ruling could nudge Gov. Phil Murphy to fulfill a campaign promise to eliminate the requirement that students pass any specific standardized tests before graduation.

Alternately, the state Legislature could temporarily suspend the testing requirement until the Department of Education develops new guidelines that follow the law, Levin said.

The state Department of Education could also fight the case before the state Supreme Court, potentially leaving students in limbo during the next round of state testing this spring.

Regardless, the decision adds another layer of confusion to an issue that’s vexed many administrators, school counselors and parents.

Previously, students were required to pass a single test in 11th grade, which most students did. But then-Gov. Chris Christie’s administration revised the rules after the introduction of the PARCC tests in the 2014-15 school year.

What ensued was widely characterized by teachers, parents and students as chaos: There were different rules for different graduating classes, and accusations the state was weaponizing the high school graduation requirements to beat down a testing “opt-out” movement.

Last spring, thousands of students who skipped their state exams thinking they could still graduate were told they had to take makeup exams, with the schools saying the state wasn’t clear about the rules, and the state countering that the schools understood the rules but misinterpreted them to students.

All along, the Education Law Center and American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey were fighting the rules in court.

“The court struck down a graduation testing regime that was unfair to students and their families,” said Jeanne LoCicero, legal director of the ACLU-NJ. “We look forward to working with the state on new regulations that will comply with the law.”

Adam Clark may be reached at adam_clark@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on twitter at @realAdamClark. Find NJ.com on Facebook.