PARCC Opt-Out Confusion Explained — Sort Of
Like many other parents in the state of New Jersey, Jack Fairchild of Moorestown is against his children taking the controversial PARCC examination, so much so that he wrote to the Superintendent of Moorestown Township Public Schools, asking that his children be exempt. The request was denied. In a letter dated January 28, 2015, the Superintendent, Timothy Rehm, said that it was mandatory for all students enrolled in New Jersey public schools to take the standardized exam...
Read more at http://www.phillymag.com/news/2015/02/05/parcc-opt-out-confusion-explained/#CX3PXqShPRbrd6oG.99
Read more at http://www.phillymag.com/news/2015/02/05/parcc-opt-out-confusion-explained/#CX3PXqShPRbrd6oG.99
Newark NJ Parents & Students Take PARCC ASSESSMEENT
Newark Mayor, Ras Baraka Supports Opt-Out Movement
As the article states below, our very own mayor believes that parents who want to opt-out of testing should be supported and accommodations should be made for the children who do refuse. The question is: Where are the people who are FOR testing? They're no where to be found.
http://www.nj.com/essex/index.ssf/2015/02/baraka_parcc_test_is_unproven.html
PARCC Tests and Readability: A Close Look by Russ Walsh
http://russonreading.blogspot.com/2015/02/parcc-tests-and-readability-close-look.html?m=1
"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."
Russ Walsh-- coordinator of college reading at Rider University
http://russonreading.blogspot.com/2015/02/parcc-tests-and-readability-close-look.html?m=1
http://russonreading.blogspot.com/2015/02/parcc-tests-and-readability-close-look.html?m=1
Hopatcong, NJ -- This District Will Make Alternatives for Kids Refusing Test
http://www.nj.com/education/2015/02/parcc_refusals_to_get_logical_and_respectful_respo.html
"Hopatcong students whose parents write a note explaining they don't want their child to take New Jersey's upcoming state assessments will be allowed to read or work independently in a different classroom."