John Monfredo: Field Testing on PARCC Begins
Saturday, March 29, 2014
We are going to be embarking on a new era of testing ultimately to replace the pencil and paper test, believes John Monfredo.
Addressing the issues
Due to fact that this is a field test many parents across Massachusetts have objected to more testing and felt that their child should not be subjected to this test. Thus, this week a letter from School Superintendent Melinda Boone addressed this issue. She stated:
As you may have heard, Massachusetts is a participating state in the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, a multi-state project to develop a next-generation computer – based testing program. The goal of PARCC is to measure student’s progress toward the state’s new academic learning standards in English language arts and mathematics.
Over the next two years Massachusetts is piloting the PARCC test in schools throughout the state to see how well it measures the state’s learning standards and to help determine whether it should replace MCAS… I am writing to inform you that your child’s class has been selected for participation in an English language arts or mathematics field test between March 24 and April 11.
The purpose of the field test is to allow schools and students to experience the new test before it counts and to allow PARCC test developers to ensure that the test questions are fair, on grade level, and measure the intended skills. I would like to assure you that your child will not receive a score or grade based on his or her performance on the PARCC field test. Should you choose for your child not to participate in the field test, please notify your child’s principal prior to the testing date. Your child’s school will be notifying you of the testing dates soon. There will be no academic or disciplinary penalty for not participating, and appropriate accommodations will be provided during testing time.
If you wish to learn more about PARCC, please visit the web site of the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education at http://www.doe.mass.edu/parcc/. If you have additional questions, you may contact Worcester Public Schools’ office of Research and Accountability at [email protected] or, as always, ask your child’s principal.
Should students take the PARCC?
There have been many debates throughout the state on whether students have to take this field test. Unfortunately the State’s education department dropped the ball on this issue. First, the board voted in the fall to begin the pilot testing to assess if the schools should move from the current MCAS tests to these new exams. As part of the field test not all students will take the test for it has been estimated 15% of the state’s students in approximately two-thirds of the state schools will be involved.
When some parents objected to the test, DESE released a legal opinion saying that parents have no right to refuse PARCC testing for their children. As the uproar continued Bob Bickerton, senior associate commissioner at DESE, said the Massachusetts Education Reform Act of 1993 does not give the state the authority to allow students to not take a standardized test, but that “common sense prevails from that point forward. He stated, “We’re not going to force the kids to take the test.” Thus, his statement appeared that it represented a change in policy by the state, which some felt was unclear on whether students would have to take the upcoming trial version of PARCC.
The Worcester School Committee did vote to give parents the right to opt out if so desired and I supported that move. However, I do hope that parents are cautious when it comes to making such a decision.
For as a parent and a former principal, I would like to be at the table when the final testing options are decided. Even though I am not a strong proponent of high stakes testing, I believe that any test gives students an opportunity to learn something from it.
In addition, teachers and principals will have the opportunity to review the test and give feedback so down the road we can give our opinion to DESE on whether it is something that should be a replacement for MCAS.
PARCC vs. MCAS
If approved in two years, in many ways PARCC testing will be different from MCAS. Perhaps the biggest difference it that PARCC will be a computer-based test, although a pencil and paper version is available for the field test. In addition, PARCC has two summative assessments: a performance-based assessment given about three-quarters of the way through the school year and an end of year assessment. PARCC will test students in grades 3-11 in ELA and Math, and will assess writing skills in all of those grades. Currently MCAS is given in grades 3-8 and 10, with writing assessments at grades 4, 7 and 10. Literacy improvement is a huge part of the PARCC testing process.
According to state officials, PARCC also has a different focus than MCAS: tracking college and career readiness rather than proficiency in a particular subject matter. This distinction has very practical importance for recent studies show that more than 50 percent of students entering two-year colleges and up to 20 percent of those entering four-year colleges need to take some type of remedial, non-credit course in order to be prepared to take college-level courses, at a cost estimated in the billions.
Even though today’s generation certainly knows how to text, my concern with the PARCC testing would be in the typing of the long essay portion of the test. Will it generate less writing than before? Should schools start early to teach keyboard skills? Those are questions that will have to be answered as we evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the PARCC testing.
We are going to be embarking on a new era of testing ultimately to replace the pencil and paper test. There will certainly be lots of anticipation so let’s see what happens and evaluate the results!
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