Newton’s elementary and middle school students will be required to take the PARCC test again this year, despite a disastrous experience last year. The IT teachers and staff for the entire system were not available for six weeks and classrooms did not have access to computers for the entire testing time period because they were all being used for testing.
The PARCC was of such poor quality that BESE (Board of Secondary and Elementary Education) voted against adopting it in November.
Newton made the decision in June 2014 to pilot the test because someone in the system was so convinced that PARCC was going to be adopted, despite vociferous objections on the part of teachers and staff. As a result, Newton elementary and MS students will take four different tests in three years, and none of the data from one test corresponds to another, so the time spent on testing for three years is useless.
Teachers are up in arms, have had sessions with our state reps and senator about it, but we are stuck wasting weeks of time giving tests that do not give us any information about a student or cohort of students.
Jane, I’m not a big fan of PARCC or standardized testing in general, and I hear your frustration, but can you elaborate on what made PARCC so poor and why last year’s results provide absolutely no information on students or cohorts? There may be no year over year data, but can absolutely nothing be learned if a particular set of questions scored high or low?
Also, I’m a bit confused. Is our system subject to a new test or the same test this coming year? You seem to suggest both. Can you help clarify?
The tests don’t help individual teachers greatly – but they do help the students and schools. I can look at past PARCC results and see if a student understood a concept last year or not and the schools can compare year to year data to see if students are progressing or there has been a change in their academic growth rate.
Jane, my understanding is that BESE approved “MCAS 2.0,” which many critics, including the head of the Massachusetts Teachers Association, refer to as “PARCC hiding inside of MCAS.” That is in part why school committees in districts such as Arlington, where 2/3 of the teachers were opposed to adopting the PARCC test, have decided not to administer the PARCC test this year. It also bothers me that the BESE Commissioner, who is touting the new test, sits on the PARCC Consortium Governing Board. Would you care to elaborate?
Ted, that sounds roughly like what I heard also, that the state is moving towards some sort of hybrid MCAS/PARCC, but I’m still confused by the labels. Are the BESE “MCAS 2.0” and this year’s PARCC one and the same? Is this what Newton is administering? Is Arlington just skipping standardized testing altogether?
Adam, no they are not the same. I too am not a fan.
This year the PARCC test should be basically the same as last year. In December Districts chose which method of testing they wanted to use and I am assuming NPS is continuing to use the Internet test so computers will be needed to take the test. During the 20 day testing window, each student will have at the most 7 sessions. I think it would be totally unacceptable for schools not to be prepared to have computers for each student when needed. There is an app this year and mobile devices will not be supported.
In 2017, the new hybrid test that is being developed by MA, 11 other states and DC (as long as none of them drop out) will be administered. “PARCC hiding inside the MCAS” sounds like an apt description but I’m confused about your comment Ted about Arlington unless they used the MCAS last year in which case they could choose to use it again but there is no opt out allowed that I know of.
I believe that Arlington used the MCAS test last year and is sticking with it this year. The previous year, the Arlington School Committee failed to adopt the PARCC test in a split (3-3) vote.
I don’t know if “failed” is the right word; it was their choice. Might have been a good choice. The BESE voted to change it by 2017 because of its many problems. Good teachers all over the country are speaking out about its failures.
“The higher the stakes, the more distortion occurs,” a CT principal said. “Once we started this “test and punish” approach … the balance shifted in an unhealthy direction.” I agree for the most part.
Marti, perhaps it would have been more accurate to say that the Arlington Superintendent’s recommendation to adopt PARCC failed to pass. In any event, I think it was probably the right decision.
@Marti, DESE will not permit districts to switch back to MCAS from PARCC. MCAS districts however could choose to move to PARCC and some did.
The school committee is getting a presentation on our PARCC results on Monday night. The big take away so far is that students who took the paper/pencil version of the PARCC did significantly better than those who took the technology administered version. Because of this all Newton students will take the paper/pencil version of the PARCC in 2016.
The new Every Child Succeed Act recently passed by Congress to replace No Child Left Behind requires that all states continue to administer accountability testing in grades 3 through 8 and again in high school. This means that even while the new MCAS is in development we must continue to administer accountability measures which every district will do. For more on the new assessment system that will replace both MCAS and PARCC there is information on DESE’s website – http://www.doe.mass.edu/commissioner/?update=1/8/2016
Sorry not to respond sooner, but it’s been a busy week and I’ve been away from the blog.
In Novmber, BESE adopted MCAS 2.0 rather than the Parcc for a variety of reasons, most relating to the negative experiences at the school level to the 2015 Parcc pilot. During the administration of that test, instructional technology teachers spent 6 weeks away from their regular responsibilities teaching students and supporting teachers in the classroon, and instead were dealing with getting computers ready for the tests and dealing with technology glitches. In addition, computers were not available for instructional purposes in any elementary classrooms for that period of time because they were being used to administer the computer based test. This is particularly significant issue for the students who don’t have access to computers/internet at home and who depend on the schools for IT experiences and instruction.
Several things that people should know:
-MCAS 2.0 doesn’t exist. BESE voted to have our children take a test that doesn’t even exist. It’s simply a stunning decision, given the amount of time standardized testing takes away from authentic instruction.
-Mitchell Chester, the chairman of BESE is also on the board of Pearson, the $2 billion (yes, that was a B) corporation that sells the Parcc test to states. He has received significant financial benefits from Pearson.
-The Parcc Consortium began with 24 states buying into it. After disastrous experiences with the test, 19 states have dropped out of the Consortium. Just 5 states continue to administer this test.
-There was a statistically significant difference between the results of the students who took the computer based test and the paper/pencil test last year. Scores of the students who did the computer based test were lower than those on the paper pencil test. MCAS 2.0 will be a computer based test.
-Pearson promised more information about student achievement from Parcc but instead teachers received less information than they would have received from the MCAS (which isn’t saying much)
Adam – In 2014 elementary students took the MCAS, in 2015 they took the Parcc (a completely different test), in 2016 they will take the Parcc, and in 2017 they will take MCAS 2.0 which has yet to be developed. That’s 3 different tests in 4 years. Comparing the results of 3 different tests is like comparing apples to oranges to mangos.
The good news is that people are starting to become aware of the unintended consequences of the testing culture – schools spend more time prepping for tests and less time on authentic instruction, the focus on the arts has suffered greatly, and the education of very young children has changed slowly but surely over the last 10 years in ways that parents are often not aware of.
And my name is spelled with a “t” – Frantz!
Ted – My understanding is that if a system piloted Parcc last year, then they have to give it again this year. My information on that may be incorrect.
Jane – Thanks for the clarification, especially the part about the state advancing MCAS 2.0, even though it is far from ready. So that’s three different tests in four years. Ok, makes more sense now. Certainly not a great situation.
Yes Jane and Ted. A district which administered PARCC last year must do so again.
In 2017 we will be administering MCAS 2.0 which will contain items from the PARCC test question bank as well as other Massachusetts’ specific questions. BESE has also asked DESE to update social studies frameworks and develop a high school social studies assessment. The committees to develop MCAS 2.0 have been appointed and a detailed work plan is available through the DESE website – http://www.doe.mass.edu/
The recently authorized federal education legislation, Every Student Succeeds Act, requires all states to assess their students in grades 3 through 8 and again in high school as one of the conditions for receiving federal education funding.
New York State has been administering the Parcc for 3 years and in 2015, 15% of the students opted out of the test. Supposedly if more than 5% opt out, then the state does not receive federal funding, but the federal government has not denied funding to any state that has not meet this criteria and a number of states are well over the 5% mark at this point. Parents can view a sample test at http://epat-parcc.testnav.com/ .
It should also be noted that the parent, student, and teacher representatives on BESE voted no to adopting MCAS 2.0 and the corporate representatives voted yes.
Margaret, yes I meant that since Arlington did not use the PARCC test last year, they could choose not to use it this year.
I’m happy to read the students will not use computers to take the test this year. But in 2017, the new test will be on-line unless something changes.
It’s a real shame that our students and teachers loose many hours of authentic instruction and that dwindling federal dollars are tied to test taking.