PARCC exam scores were released in many schools recently. These scores are the results from last spring’s PARCC exams. It is no secret that PARCC has been disliked since it was installed in 2015. These feelings are not necessarily the result of low scores though. It all circles back to the problem with PARCC. Fortunately, there have been new developments. According to News 12 New Jersey, the State lawmakers held a hearing this past week about the future of PARCC.
The Problem with PARCC
While it is agreed that there needs to be some sort of measurement of academic progress, the PARCC assessment is clearly not the answer. The time it takes away from actually school studies and the focus it takes away from the other core subjects is staggering. The hours a student spends taking PARCC test throughout their school career can be over 100. This is in addition to the months of preparing for the exam each year that of course takes away from other academics
Progress with PARCC
A new vote was set to reduce the number of PARCC tests in high schools. Currently, high school students need to take six standardized tests to graduate. This is higher than the federal standards. The new vote would reduce the number of tests from six to two and will also offer extra support and retakes to students who don’t pass the state assessment.
In the recent joint hearing with parents, teachers, and the New Jersey Board of Education, state Senate Education Chair, Sen. Theresa Ruiz asked for an “empirical date that says why we would need to eliminate these sections of the test to support the reasoning.”
However, Dr. Lamont Repollet, New Jersey Education Commissioner, still plans to phase out PARCC. From traveling across the state and speaking to the teachers, and parents of New Jersey he found the students to be “socially, emotionally unprepared and they also don’t have a clue of even exactly what field they want to go to,” Repollet said. The Department of Education also wants to reduce the time spent test-taking by 25% as well as reduce the impact of test scores on teacher evaluations.
There will be more hearings and news reports on PARCC as Murphy, Repollet, and the New Jersey Department of Education work to eliminate PARCC and restructure how New Jersey administers the standardized tests. Stay tuned here for your updates.
https://www.nj.com/opinion/index.ssf/2018/09/teachers_union_president_its_about_time_parcc_is_f.html
http://newjersey.news12.com/story/39108006/nj-lawmakers-hold-hearing-about-future-of-parcc-test
http://newjersey.news12.com/story/38623947/new-jersey-plans-to-phase-out-parcc-test-for-students
