PARCC

The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) creates a standard set of K-12 assessments in math and English.^[1] Within PARCC, a group of states (see list below) bases 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.^[2] PARCC assessments are currently being developed and are on track to begin being administered during the 2014-2015 school year.^[3]

The PARCC 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 will include 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.^[4]

PARCC Assessment Overview

The PARCC assessment will contain two summative portions – a performance-based assessment (PBA) and an End-of-Year Assessment (EOY).^[5] The PBA will take place as near to the end of the school year as possible and will have ELA/literacy students analyze and write about a text and mathematics students apply skills, concepts and understandings to solve problems.^[6] The EOY will be administered when about 90 percent of the school year is complete. This section will focus on reading comprehension for ELA/literacy students and innovative problem solving for math students.^[7]

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.^[8]

PARCC has also started supporting a system that will provide both teachers and parents with access to "computer-adaptive text complexity diagnostic tools".^[9] This initiative will ensure students have access to appropriate-level texts and are prepared to enter college at the right level.

PARCC States and The District of Columbia

In the spring of 2010,^[10] the District of Columbia decided to join the now 24 PARCC states. 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, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and Tennessee.

The 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 11 governing states in the PARCC in charge of assessment development.^[11] 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.^[12]

Historical Context of PARCC

Before No Child Left Behind, The Elementary and Secondary Education Act was passed in 1965 as a part of the "War on Poverty".^[13] In hopes of diminishing the shocking 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.^[14] 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.^[15] 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).^[16] AYP is a required statewide accountability system which requires each state to ensure that all schools and districts make AYP.^[17] 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".^[18] States and schools across the country ever since ESEA was passed 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.^[19] As a result of NCLB, all 50 states and the District of Columbia have created state standardized tests that all children across the state and District of Columbia are forced to take in order to move on to high school and graduate from high school. As Wayne Au says in High-Stakes Testing and Curricular Control: A Qualitative Metasynthesis, these tests are known as high-stakes testing. Schools, Administrators, Teachers all become accountable for the learning that is taking place in their classrooms.^[20]

“In most 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.”.^[21]

The District of Columbia, like all states across the country has followed NCLB since 2002. The District of Columbia has seen created their 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, in which case they will drop the DC CAS model and follow the implementation and procedures for the next-generation PARCC testing.^[22]

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.^[23] 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.^[24] 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.^[25] 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.^[26] Other states, however, would still only include the two original tests in their summative scores.

PARCC Implementation Timeline

“SY 2010-11 = Launch and design phase

SY 2011-12 = Development Begins

SY 2012-13 = First year pilot/field testing and related research and data collection

SY 2014-15 = Full administration of PARCC assessments

Summer 2015 = set achievement levels, including college-ready performance levels”.^[27]

Interesting Facts about PARCC

Since its creation, PARCC has been influenced by over 1,000 educators in grades ranging from K-12, post secondary leaders and state and local officials.^[28]

PARCC will be transitioning to a completely computer-based assessment system. The system will have to be operatable across the country.,^[29] and must also include an automated scoring system and flawless processes that will be easily comprehended by teachers, staff, administrators.^[30]

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, like 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 towards improving teaching in our schools.^[31]

References

1. ^ "About PARCC | PARCC." Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers | PARCC. 2011. Web. 11 Oct. 2011. <http://www.parcconline.org/about-parcc>
2. ^ "About PARCC | PARCC." Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers | PARCC. 2011. Web. 11 Oct. 2011. <http://www.parcconline.org/about-parcc>.
3. ^ "About PARCC | PARCC." Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers | PARCC. 2011. Web. 11 Oct. 2011. <http://www.parcconline.org/about-parcc>
4. ^ "About PARCC | PARCC." Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers | PARCC. 2011. Web. 11 Oct. 2011. <http://www.parcconline.org/about-parcc>.
5. ^ "Powerpoint." Infographic. The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers . First Last. PARCC, Web. 11 Oct 2011. <http://www.parcconline.org/about-parcc>
6. ^ "Powerpoint." Infographic. The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers . First Last. PARCC, Web. 11 Oct 2011. <http://www.parcconline.org/about-parcc>
7. ^ "Powerpoint." Infographic. The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers . First Last. PARCC, Web. 11 Oct 2011. <http://www.parcconline.org/about-parcc>
8. ^ "Powerpoint." Infographic. The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers . First Last. PARCC, Web. 11 Oct 2011. <http://www.parcconline.org/about-parcc>
9. ^ Hain, Bonnie. "PARCC Consortium - A Five Component Assessment Model." Reading Today 29.1 (2011): 24. Academic Search Premier. Web. <http://sfx.wrlc.org/au?ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&ctx_enc=info%3Aofi%2Fenc%3AUTF-8&rfr_id=info:sid/summon.serialssolutions.com&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:journal&rft.genre=article&rft.atitle=PARCC+Consortium+-+A+Five+Component+Assessment+Model&rft.jtitle=Reading+Today&rft.au=Bonnie+Hain&rft.date=2011-08-01&rft.issn=2160-8083&rft.volume=29&rft.issue=1&rft.spage=24&rft.externalDBID=IRTY&rft.externalDocID=2465422511>.
10. ^ "About PARCC | PARCC." Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers | PARCC. 2011. Web. 11 Oct. 2011. <http://www.parcconline.org/about-parcc>
11. ^ "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. http://osse.dc.gov/release/state-board-education-votes-adopt-common-core-standards-english-language-arts-and
12. ^ "Leaders from Massachusetts, Louisiana Named | PARCC." Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers | PARCC. 2011. Web. 11 Oct. 2011. http://www.parcconline.org/leaders-massachusetts-louisiana-named-co-chairs-parccs-advisory-committee-college-readiness
13. ^ "Elementary and Secondary Education Act." Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. OSPI, n.d. Web. 11 Oct 2011. <http://www.k12.wa.us/esea/>
14. ^ "Elementary and Secondary Education Act." Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. OSPI, n.d. Web. 11 Oct 2011. <http://www.k12.wa.us/esea/>
15. ^ "Elementary and Secondary Education Act." Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. OSPI, n.d. Web. 11 Oct 2011. <http://www.k12.wa.us/esea/>
16. ^ "Elementary and Secondary Education Act." Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. OSPI, n.d. Web. 11 Oct 2011.http://www.k12.wa.us/esea/
17. ^ "Elementary and Secondary Education Act." Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. OSPI, n.d. Web. 11 Oct 2011.http://www.k12.wa.us/esea
18. ^ "California Department of Education." Adequate Yearly Progress. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Oct 2011. http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/ac/ay/
19. ^ "Powerpoint." Infographic. The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers . First Last. PARCC, Web. 11 Oct 2011. <http://www.parcconline.org/about-parcc>
20. ^ Au, Wayne. "High-Stakes Testing and Curricular Control: A Qualitative Metasynthesis." Rethinking Schools. n. page. Web. 11 Oct. 2011. http://edr.sagepub.com/content/36/5/258.short
21. ^ "Powerpoint." Infographic. The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers . First Last. PARCC, Web. 11 Oct 2011. <http://www.parcconline.org/about-parcc>
22. ^ "Powerpoint." Infographic. The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers . First Last. PARCC, Web. 11 Oct 2011. <http://www.parcconline.org/about-parcc>
23. ^ Gewertz, Catherine. "State Consortium Scales Back Common-Assessment Design: PARCC Replaces Required Language Arts and Math Tests with Optional Ones." Education Week 30.36 (2011). Proquest. Web. <http://search.proquest.com.proxyau.wrlc.org/docview/878908331>
24. ^ Gewertz, Catherine. "State Consortium Scales Back Common-Assessment Design: PARCC Replaces Required Language Arts and Math Tests with Optional Ones." Education Week 30.36 (2011). Proquest. Web. <http://search.proquest.com.proxyau.wrlc.org/docview/878908331>
25. ^ Gewertz, Catherine. "State Consortium Scales Back Common-Assessment Design: PARCC Replaces Required Language Arts and Math Tests with Optional Ones." Education Week 30.36 (2011). Proquest. Web. <http://search.proquest.com.proxyau.wrlc.org/docview/878908331>
26. ^ Gewertz, Catherine. "State Consortium Scales Back Common-Assessment Design: PARCC Replaces Required Language Arts and Math Tests with Optional Ones." Education Week 30.36 (2011). Proquest. Web. <http://search.proquest.com.proxyau.wrlc.org/docview/878908331>
27. ^ "Powerpoint." Infographic. The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers . First Last. PARCC, Web. 11 Oct 2011. <http://www.parcconline.org/about-parcc>
28. ^ "Powerpoint." Infographic. The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers . First Last. PARCC, Web. 11 Oct 2011. <http://www.parcconline.org/about-parcc>
29. ^ "Powerpoint." Infographic. The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers . First Last. PARCC, Web. 11 Oct 2011. <http://www.parcconline.org/about-parcc>
30. ^ "Powerpoint." Infographic. The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers . This computerized system will diminish the amount of paperwork, and make grading more efficient for educators.First Last. PARCC, Web. 11 Oct 2011. <http://www.parcconline.org/about-parcc>
31. ^ Seed, Allen. "Redirecting the Teaching Profession IN THE WAKE OF A NATION AT RISK AND NCLB." Nation at Risk. n. page. Web. 11 Oct. 2011. http://www.kappanmagazine.org/content/89/8/586.short