PARCC

The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) is a consortium of states and the District of Columbia that are working to create and deploy a standard set of K-12 assessments in mathematics and English.[1] Within PARCC, states base the content of these assessments on what it takes to be successful in college and careers in the future. These examinations will also coincide with the full range of the Common Core State Standards Initiative to make certain that standards are present in classrooms.[1] PARCC assessments have been administered in schools in Ohio, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, and New Jersey so far during the 2014-2015 school year.[2]

The PARCC consortium was awarded Race to the Top assessment funds in September 2010 by the U.S. Department of Education to help in the development of the K-12 assessments. PARCC has included educators in the development of its assessments and will consult with more than 200 postsecondary systems to ensure that the examinations are preparing students for college and careers.[1]

Assessment

The PARCC assessment includes two summative portions – a performance-based assessment (PBA) and an End-of-Year Assessment (EOY).[3] The PBA component is administered at roughly the 75 percent mark of the school year. In English language arts/literacy students analyze and write about a text and in mathematics students apply skills, concepts and understandings to solve problems.[3] The EOY is administered when about 90 percent of the school year is complete. This section focuses on reading comprehension for English language arts/literacy and innovative problem solving in mathematics.[3]

There are two formative components that can be flexibly administered at the beginning and mid-points of the year. These exams are intended to be used as indicators of student needs and progress for teachers to identify and address.[3]

PARCC has also started supporting a system that will provide both teachers and parents with access to "computer-adaptive text complexity diagnostic tools".[4] This initiative will ensure students have access to appropriate-level texts and are prepared to enter college and careers at the right level.

The PARCC assessment will be transitioning to a completely computer-based assessment system. The system will have to be operable across the country,[3] and must also include an automated scoring system and flawless processes that will be easily comprehended by teachers, staff, administrators.[3] The summative assessment platform of choice is TestNav provided by Pearson and the TAO Open Source platform has been chosen for non-summative assessment portions.[5]

When administering the PARCC assessment, states will be able to tailor the exams to their standards, classes, and other accountability tools that are unique to each state. Many critics of NCLB, however, such as Allen Seed, author of "Redirecting the teaching profession in the wake of Nation at Risk and NCLB", state that one of the biggest flaws of these federal policies is the neglect of improving teaching in our schools.[6]

Membership

In the spring of 2010,[1] the District of Columbia decided to join the then 23 PARCC states. Jeremy Perez leader of the PARCC test monitered the first undergoing test These states include: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Tennessee.

On September 23, 2013, Florida withdrew from Common Core and PARCC, citing unconstitutional involvement by the federal government in states' affairs.[7]

As of March 25, 2014 only 14 states plus the District of Columbia remained in the PARCC consortium. States that had withdrawn include: Alabama, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Utah.

PARCC was selected for use in the District of Columbia around the time the District had adopted the Common Core State Standards in mathematics and English language arts/literacy in July 2010 and before it was acknowledged as a Race to the Top winner in August 2010. Washington D.C. is also one of only 18 governing states in the PARCC in charge of assessment development.[8] In addition to these governing states, the Advisory Committee on College Readiness (ACCR) is also managing over the development and implementation of PARCC assessments. This group of higher education experts aims to ensure that PARCC exams are acceptable indicators of college readiness in math and English for both two- and four-year colleges and universities.[9]

In July 2013, a more accurate price estimation was made at $29.50 per student, higher than expected. Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, North Dakota, Alabama, Georgia, and Indiana have each filed the appropriate documentation to withdraw from the PARCC consortium as a result of the increased cost and rising public concern about the Common Core Standards.[10]

On January 16, 2015, Mississippi state government voted to withdraw from the PARCC.[11]

As of March 2015, the twelve active PARCC members are Arkansas, Colorado, District of Columbia, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, and Rhode Island.[1]

Historical background

Before No Child Left Behind, The Elementary and Secondary Education Act was passed in 1965 as a part of the "War on Poverty".[12] In hopes of diminishing the achievement gap, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act was passed to create equal opportunity and access to Education through high standards and accountability. These standards and accountability techniques came in the form of standardized testing.[12] For the first time, federal money was being sent into local schools and made the production of test-based evidence mandatory for all educators. Standards were being assessed on these state-created exams, and local schools were then accountable to perform on these exams.[12] In 2002, Congress re-examined ESEA and reauthorized it as No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB).

ESEA created the accountability tool known as Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP).[12] AYP is a required statewide accountability system which requires each state to ensure that all schools and districts make AYP.[12] AYP is simply a “statewide accountability system mandated by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 which requires each state to ensure that all schools and districts make Adequate Yearly Progress".[13] Ever since ESEA was passed, states and schools across the country have been working to improve its academics standards and assessments to ensure students graduate with the knowledge and skills most demanded by college and careers.[3] As a result of NCLB, all 50 states and the District of Columbia have created state standardized tests for all children across the states and the District of Columbia that are mandatory for graduation from high school. These tests are known as "high-stakes testing" in which schools, administrators, and teachers all become accountable for the learning that is taking place in their classrooms.[14]

“In recent years, PARCC received a $186 million grant through the U.S. Department of Education's Race to the Top assessment competition to support the development and design of the next-generation assessment system. PARCC has led the movement towards creating Common Core State Standards in English language arts/literacy and mathematics. PARCC is the next generation of standardized testing.”[3]

The District of Columbia, like all states across the country has followed NCLB since 2002. The District of Columbia has created its own DC CAS standardized tests that are used in both elementary and secondary schools across the city. DC has most recently become the 24th state to join the PARCC initiative. They will drop the DC CAS model and follow the implementation and procedures for the next-generation PARCC testing.[3]

Changes to PARCC

Since its adoption by the District of Columbia in 2010, PARCC has proposed the elimination of two of its four tests that would have been administered throughout the school year.[15] Prior to this decision, several of the partnership states were concerned that the four-time testing format would not only be too expensive and take up large amounts of classroom time, but also control too much of a state or district’s curriculum. The new format, discussed June 24, 2011, would now contain two assessments per subject in the summative score.[15] One of these exams would be computer-based and the other exam would be a combination of essays and performance tasks. Additionally, the two eliminated assessments would become optional components for states to include throughout the year to help improve instruction and provide feedback prior to the actual administering of the required examinations.[15] The changes to the PARCC assessment are currently awaiting approval by the U.S. Department of Education.

The PARCC testing designers are also in early discussions of allowing some participating states to include a third part to their summative score by adding in one of the optional components – a performance-based test.[15] Other states, however, would still only include the two original tests in their summative scores.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 "About PARCC". Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers. Retrieved March 1, 2015.
  2. ↑ Slover, Laura (February 20, 2015). "We are Live!". Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers. Retrieved March 1, 2015.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 Powerpoint Infographic Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers Web site (October 11, 2011).
  4. ↑ Hain, Bonnie (2011) "PARCC Consortium - A Five Component Assessment Model." Reading Today, 29 (1) : 24. Academic Search Premier. Web. Available on-line at: Reading.org.
  5. ↑ parcc selects open source platform for nonsummative assessments
  6. ↑ Seed, Allen (April 2008) "Redirecting the teaching profession in the wake of a Nation At Risk and NCLB." Phi Delta Kappan, 89 (8) : 586-589. Web. 11 Oct. 2011. Available on-line at: Phi Delta Kappan magazine.
  7. ↑ Web site of Governor of Florida: Florida withdraws from PARCC
  8. ↑ "The State Board of Education Votes to Adopt the Common Core Standards for English Language Arts and Mathematics for Grades K–12 | Osse." Osse | Office of the State Superintendent of Education. 29 July 2010. Web. 11 Oct. 2011. Available on-line at: OSSE (Washington, D.C.)
  9. ↑ "Leaders from Massachusetts, Louisiana Named | PARCC." Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers | PARCC. 2011. Web. 11 Oct. 2011. Available on-line at: PARCC
  10. ↑ Cory Turner and Robert Siegel (July 25, 2013) "Common Core Could Be Disrupted As States Drop Out Of PARCC," NPR (National Public Radio). Available on-line at: NPR news
  11. ↑ Strauss, Valerie (January 16, 2015). "Mississippi withdrawing from Common Core PARCC consortium". Washington Post. Retrieved March 1, 2015.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 "Elementary and Secondary Education Act," Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. OSPI, n.d. Web (October 11, 2011).
  13. ↑ "California Department of Education." Adequate Yearly Progress. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Oct 2011. Available on-line at: California Dept. of Education
  14. ↑ Au, Wayne (June 2007) "High-Stakes Testing and Curricular Control: A Qualitative Metasynthesis," Educational Researcher, 36 (5) : 258-267. Available on-line at: Sage Publishing.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 Gewertz, Catherine (2011) "State Consortium Scales Back Common-Assessment Design: PARCC Replaces Required Language Arts and Math Tests with Optional Ones," Education Week, 30 : 36. Available on-line at: Education Week.

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