Can students Opt-Out of the PARCC?
Though some states do have an “opt-out” provision, New Jersey does not— so parents must REFUSE testing on behalf of their children. As State Board of Education President Mark Biedron acknowledged at the January 7, 2015 NJ State Board of Education meeting, “We know we cannot force any kid to put their hands on a keyboard”
NJ Commissioner of Education David Hespe said that it’s up to districts to determine how to handle refusals. A district cannot instruct parents to keep their children home to avoid testing. As for those who refused to take the tests, Hespe said: “Every district should apply its own policies. “If a student comes in and is disruptive, you should have a disciplinary policy for that,” he said. “If they’re not disruptive, you should have a policy of what you do with that child. We should not automatically assume that coming to school and not wanting to take the test is a disciplinary problem.”
http://www.njspotlight.com/stories/15/01/07/anti-testing-turnout-puts-state-board-of-education-tothe-test/
For more Information on how you can help your child Opt-Out of the PARCC in New Jersey please Click here
NJ Commissioner of Education David Hespe said that it’s up to districts to determine how to handle refusals. A district cannot instruct parents to keep their children home to avoid testing. As for those who refused to take the tests, Hespe said: “Every district should apply its own policies. “If a student comes in and is disruptive, you should have a disciplinary policy for that,” he said. “If they’re not disruptive, you should have a policy of what you do with that child. We should not automatically assume that coming to school and not wanting to take the test is a disciplinary problem.”
http://www.njspotlight.com/stories/15/01/07/anti-testing-turnout-puts-state-board-of-education-tothe-test/
For more Information on how you can help your child Opt-Out of the PARCC in New Jersey please Click here
How many states are participating in PARCC?
The PARCC High-Stakes Standardized Test is Down to Nine States and Washington DC, but New Jersey is hanging in there.
With the January 16, 2015 announcement that Mississippi is exiting the PARCC testing consortium and putting out a request for a vendor to develop a test just for Mississippi, the PARCC consortium is down to nine states and the District of Columbia.
Those nine states are: Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Rhode Island.
Some accounts include New York and Louisiana on the PARCC list of states but the blogger Mercedes Schneider has pointed out that New York is administering Pearson tests for five years (beginning in 2011), but not the Pearson PARCC tests and Louisiana is not an active PARCC state.
Sources:
https://deutsch29.wordpress.com/2015/01/16/mississippi-exits-parcc-louisiana-still-fakes-legitimate-participation/
https://deutsch29.wordpress.com/2014/12/05/parcc-is-down-to-dc-plus-ten-states-and-louisiana-isnt-one-of-them/
With the January 16, 2015 announcement that Mississippi is exiting the PARCC testing consortium and putting out a request for a vendor to develop a test just for Mississippi, the PARCC consortium is down to nine states and the District of Columbia.
Those nine states are: Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Rhode Island.
Some accounts include New York and Louisiana on the PARCC list of states but the blogger Mercedes Schneider has pointed out that New York is administering Pearson tests for five years (beginning in 2011), but not the Pearson PARCC tests and Louisiana is not an active PARCC state.
Sources:
https://deutsch29.wordpress.com/2015/01/16/mississippi-exits-parcc-louisiana-still-fakes-legitimate-participation/
https://deutsch29.wordpress.com/2014/12/05/parcc-is-down-to-dc-plus-ten-states-and-louisiana-isnt-one-of-them/
Is PARCC the only way to truly assess our students?
Teachers assess students every single day. Parents see the results through quizzes, chapter tests, mid terms and finals and through these results have the ability to “hone” in on the problems and work with the child at home and school. PARCC results will not be provided until the following year at which point students will have moved to the next grade. Since PARCC was developed without input from experts, educators, parents, students, or administrators, there is no understanding of what is being assessed. At this time 1/16/15 there are only 9 states remaining plus the District of Columbia that are participating in PARCC. Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Rhode Island, Massachusetts. New Jersey’s public schools lead the nation in school achievement, high school graduation rates, school attendance, SAT scores, and AP exam scores.
Souce: Education Week, Quality Counts 2014; District Disruption and Revival: School Systems Reshape to Compete - and Improve.
January 2014 New Jersey leads the nation in student achievement and growth among lowincome and minority students, according to the Education Trust.
Source: The Education Trust. Differences in State Track Records Foreshadow Challenges and Opportunities for Common Core. July 2013
Souce: Education Week, Quality Counts 2014; District Disruption and Revival: School Systems Reshape to Compete - and Improve.
January 2014 New Jersey leads the nation in student achievement and growth among lowincome and minority students, according to the Education Trust.
Source: The Education Trust. Differences in State Track Records Foreshadow Challenges and Opportunities for Common Core. July 2013
Will the PARCC be a High School graduation requirement?
For the Classes of 2016-2018, students will be able to demonstrate proficiency in both ELA and math by meeting ONE of the criteria in each section below:
Section One – English Language Arts
Passing score on a PARCC ELA Grade 9 or
Passing score on a PARCC ELA Grade 10 or
Passing score on a PARCC ELA Grade 11 or
Accuplacer Write Placer >= 6 or
SAT >= 400 or
ACT >= 16 or
PSAT >= 40 or
ACT Aspire >= 422 or
ASVAB-AFQT >=31 or
Meet the Criteria of the NJDOE Portfolio Appeal
Section Two - Mathematics
Passing score on a PARCC Algebra I or
Passing score on a PARCC Geometry or
Passing score on a PARCC Algebra II or
SAT >= 400 or
ACT >= 16 or
PSAT >= 40 or
ACT Aspire >= 422 or
ASVAB-AFQT >=31 or
Meet the Criteria of the NJDOE Portfolio Appeal
As of this printing (1/16/15), the Department of Education’s plan is that the PARCC will be the only option for students graduating in 2019 and beyond.
The DoE is unclear on other options; they have not made a decision. Which is another reason why parents are upset and should “refuse” the test as this is one way parents can take a stand.
The DoE is also considering setting retro-active passing scores after a single administration of the PARCC test. This is a violation of federal guidelines set forth for parental/student notification of new graduation requirements in federal court cases.
DOE Director of the Office of Assessment, Jeff Hauger stated in a department paper about the implementation of a new Algebra I test as a graduation requirement: “As a rule of thumb, the state needs to send out due notice to the districts regarding the graduation requirement and give them a three year period to adjust.”
The Commissioner’s proposed polices are inconsistent with fairness, best practices and previous Department policy statements. There are numerous other unanswered implications, especially for current HS students who will suddenly face new and unproven graduation policies.
Source: State of NJ Department of Education Memo http://www.state.nj.us/education/intervention/memos/120214grad.pdf
http://www.app.com/story/opinion/columnists/2014/10/14/karp-parcc-rule-change-unfair-highschool-students/17258473/
Section One – English Language Arts
Passing score on a PARCC ELA Grade 9 or
Passing score on a PARCC ELA Grade 10 or
Passing score on a PARCC ELA Grade 11 or
Accuplacer Write Placer >= 6 or
SAT >= 400 or
ACT >= 16 or
PSAT >= 40 or
ACT Aspire >= 422 or
ASVAB-AFQT >=31 or
Meet the Criteria of the NJDOE Portfolio Appeal
Section Two - Mathematics
Passing score on a PARCC Algebra I or
Passing score on a PARCC Geometry or
Passing score on a PARCC Algebra II or
SAT >= 400 or
ACT >= 16 or
PSAT >= 40 or
ACT Aspire >= 422 or
ASVAB-AFQT >=31 or
Meet the Criteria of the NJDOE Portfolio Appeal
As of this printing (1/16/15), the Department of Education’s plan is that the PARCC will be the only option for students graduating in 2019 and beyond.
The DoE is unclear on other options; they have not made a decision. Which is another reason why parents are upset and should “refuse” the test as this is one way parents can take a stand.
The DoE is also considering setting retro-active passing scores after a single administration of the PARCC test. This is a violation of federal guidelines set forth for parental/student notification of new graduation requirements in federal court cases.
DOE Director of the Office of Assessment, Jeff Hauger stated in a department paper about the implementation of a new Algebra I test as a graduation requirement: “As a rule of thumb, the state needs to send out due notice to the districts regarding the graduation requirement and give them a three year period to adjust.”
The Commissioner’s proposed polices are inconsistent with fairness, best practices and previous Department policy statements. There are numerous other unanswered implications, especially for current HS students who will suddenly face new and unproven graduation policies.
Source: State of NJ Department of Education Memo http://www.state.nj.us/education/intervention/memos/120214grad.pdf
http://www.app.com/story/opinion/columnists/2014/10/14/karp-parcc-rule-change-unfair-highschool-students/17258473/
Will Districts lose Title 1 Funding for schools?
There is no federal or state law that requires penalties on schools if parents opt out/ refuse the test. The federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law did include a mandate that required schools to have a 95% participation rate on state tests or face sanctions. However, since 2012, NJ has had a waiver to NCLB that replaces those sanctions with a new accountability system.
Under the waiver, only schools designated “priority” or “focus” schools face direct intervention for missing state targets. Priority and focus schools can have up to 30% of their federal Title I funds “re-directed” by the NJDOE for specific “interventions,” but even these funds are supposed to be used for school improvement, not taken away.
The overwhelming majority of the state’s 250 “priority” and “focus” schools are in high-poverty urban districts. See explanation and 2014 list here: http://www.state.nj.us/education/reform/PFRschools/PriorityFocusSchools.pdf
Under the waiver, only schools designated “priority” or “focus” schools face direct intervention for missing state targets. Priority and focus schools can have up to 30% of their federal Title I funds “re-directed” by the NJDOE for specific “interventions,” but even these funds are supposed to be used for school improvement, not taken away.
The overwhelming majority of the state’s 250 “priority” and “focus” schools are in high-poverty urban districts. See explanation and 2014 list here: http://www.state.nj.us/education/reform/PFRschools/PriorityFocusSchools.pdf
Will Colleges and Universities utilize PARCC scores?
Colleges and Universities utilize SATs/ACTS scores however there is a growing number of colleges/universities that are choosing to either eliminate the SAT/ACT or place less emphasis on it. The following links include institutions that are "test optional," "test flexible" or otherwise de-emphasize the use of standardized tests by making admissions decisions about substantial numbers of applicants who recently graduated from U.S. high schools without using the SAT or ACT http://www.fairtest.org/schools-do-not-use-sat-or-act-scores-admitting-substantialnumbers-students-bachelor-degree-programs http://www.fairtest.org/university/optional
How difficult is the PARCC exam?
Russ on Reading: PARCC Tests and Readability: A Close Look
"The stated purpose of the Common Core State Standards and the aligned PARCC test was to "raise the bar" based on the notion that in order to be "college and career ready" students needed to be reading more complex text starting in their earliest school years. The PARCC sample tests show that they have certainly raised the bar when it comes to making reading comprehension passages quite difficult at every grade level.
These results clearly show that even by the altered Lexile level standard the 4th grade passage is much too difficult for 4th grade children. I would hope that the actual PARCC would not include any material remotely like this over-reaching level of challenge for children. I would hope, but the inclusion of this passage in the sample does not give me confidence.
The other results show that the passages chosen are about two grade levels above the readability of the grade and age of the children by measures other than the Lexile level. The results of testing children on these passages will be quite predictable. Students will score lower on the tests than on previous tests. We have already seen this in New York where test scores plummeted when the new tests were given last year. English Language Learners (ELL) and students with disabilities will be particularly hard hit because these tests will prove extraordinarily difficult to them.
What happens when students are asked to read very difficult text? For those students who find the text challenging, but doable, they will redouble their efforts to figure it out. For the majority of children, however, who find the text at their frustration level, they may well give up. That is what frustration level in reading means. The ideal reading comprehension assessment passage will be easy for some, just right for most and challenging for some. The PARCC passages are likely to be very, very challenging for most."