The PARCC test was created to assess students between grades 3-9. The purpose is to grade school districts. The PARCC test has two components: the Performance Based Assessment and the End of Year Assessment. The PBA is done when students are about 60% done with the school year and the EoY is done at the end of the year. All students take a Math and English component and depending upon the grade level they may also have to take the Science or Social Studies component as well. Testing is mostly done on computers. The testing is spread out over multiple days and takes about 10 hours. So, this equates to about 20 hours of standardized testing a year.
There has been a lot of rebuttal to this test from parents and teachers as well. Parents are opting their children out of testing because they feel that their kids are missing out on class time due to having to prepare and take these exams. Teachers are also rebutting. Stacie Starr from Ohio who won the 2014 LIVE with Kelly and Michael Top Teacher Search has put in her resignation because she thinks all this testing is too much. By federal law, 95% of students in each school district have to participate in the test. If school districts do not comply they could lose federal funds. In the state of Ohio, legislation has been passed ensuring that schools will not lose state level funding due to opt-outs.
Ohio is debating what they should do in regards to standardized testing. State Senator Peggy Lehner who leads the Senate Education Committee and State Senator Keith Faber have created a Senate Advisory Committee on testing which is composed of superintendents, teachers, curriculum and testing specialists, and other educational professionals. This committee will meet twice a month for six months. The committee will discuss ideas such as the PARCC test itself, testing time, and whether or not they will shift to other testing such as versions of the ACT or creating their own standardized test for the state of Ohio.
I am just curious what everyone else thinks about this? I have a little sister who is in the 5th grade and we talked about the testing together. She said that they had a lot of computer issues and it took longer than expected due to that as well as the snow days. I also was listening to the radio the other day and they said there was a school who only had one computer for every three students. So, what happens when the schools don't have enough computers to administer the tests like they are supposed to? Also, with high schools, what happens with multi-grade level classes? How are teachers supposed to plan when a portion of the class could be missing at any given time?
·http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/some-parents-across-the-country-are-revolting-against-standardized-testing/2015/03/05/e2abd062-c1e1-11e4-9ec2-b418f57a4a99_story.html?wprss=rss_national
·http://impact.cleveland.com/metro/print.html?entry=/2015/03/should_ohio_cut_testing_time_or_keep_parcc_new_panel_will_review_states_key_testing_issues.html
I like your questions. There seems to be too many complications with administering these tests that those who chose to implement this did not consider. Technology has put may low income schools at a disadvantage already because the less computers and such available to the students the less resources they have to help them in their courses. To rely on computers for this extensive test is unfair and unrealistic.
ReplyDeleteI fully agree with the Common Core, this allows for students across the nation to compete equally for their college and their futures. In some states the education standards have not been updated since 1960. However, the testing that comes along with it really should be evaluated for other possibilities. My son just took a week of TerraNova tests, which from my understanding is part of common core but not PARCC because he is in 2nd grade. It was in booklets and taken with a pencil. It just seems like those who have implemented PARCC are too far away from the schools, teachers, and students to really know what is realistic.
I have a few friends that are teachers who I have discussed the PARCC with as well as some of my students. My best friend who teaches in Columbus said that she felt the test was too hard for the students. She said that many of the questions seemed very tricky and that even she was confused as to what they were asking. Also, as you mentioned, the test takes a long time to administer and the students and teachers are wore out. That being said, in some schools (especially low SES and inner city public schools) no other instruction happens during the week. I asked some of the kids what they did in school and they said they played on computers and watched movies because it is testing week. These students are missing out on valuable education/instruction time because the teachers are so busy focusing on administering the tests.
ReplyDeleteThis is my first time to know PARCC and my first thought was my surprise that parents decried this test so strongly! It was a little difficult for me to understand their opposition considering that this test aims to improve teacher's accountability, which will be beneficial for children's academic achievement.
ReplyDeleteMy school experience before college in China showed that the majority of parents respected the authority of school system and were much willing to follow the suggestions from teachers and school administrators for their children. The parents in China believe that teacher will have a better understanding of student's academic growth than parents, regardless of the level of education the parents themselves have.
So I think there might be some miscommunications or mistrust between school and parents in U.S. education system, or if the school can demonstrate how the assessment can be used to improve student's outcome, it will be easier for this assessment to be implemented.