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ANEWVISIONOFASSESSMENT

ThePartnershipforAssessmentofReadinessfor

CollegeandCareers(PARCC)isagroupof22states

thathavecometogethertodevelophigh-quality

studentassessmentslinkedtonew,morerigorous

Englishlanguagearts(ELA)/literacyandmath

standards.Theassessmentswillbereadyforthe

201415schoolyearforstudentsingrades311and

willreplacethestatewidetestsinthosesubjectsthat

studentstakenow.

Thecomputer-basedassessmentswilladdresslongstandingconcernsthatparents,educatorsand

employershaveaboutcurrentstateassessments.Manycurrentstatetestsdonotmeasuretheabilityof

studentstothinkcriticallyandapplytheirknowledgeratherthanjustmemorizefacts.Thenew

assessmentswillaskstudentstoansweravarietyoftypesofquestions,showtheirworkandexplaintheir

reasoning.Educatorsneedtoassesswhetherstudentsarelearningatexpectedlevelsorneedextrahelp,andthey

needtodeterminewhetherinstructionalprogramsandpracticesareworking.Buteducatorsshould

measurestudentlearninginusefulways,withmeaningfulassessmentsthatareworthyourchildstime.

Dependingonthestateinwhichyoulive,thetimeyourchildspendstakingthenewtestscouldbeshorter,

somewhatlongerorthesameaswithcurrentstatetests.Itisimportanttorememberthatthenewtests

aremorecomprehensivethantheoutgoingones.PARCCwilltestwritingskillsateverygradeleveland

critical-thinkingandproblem-solvingskillsinanin-depthmanner.Inmath,forexample,yourchildwillbe

askedtoexplainmathematicalreasoning,notjustgettheanswerright.InELA/literacy,heorshewillbe

askedtoreadcomplexpassagesanddrawevidencefromthematerialtomakeinferencesandpresenta

persuasiveargument.

HowPARCCWillBeDifferentThenewassessmentswill:

Beinnovativeandengaging.PARCCassessmentswillbetestsworthtaking,madeupofengagingtextsandreal-worldproblems.Theywillaskyourchildtowriteessaysandanswerquestionsthatresemble

thekindofhigh-qualitycourseworkyouseeinthebestclassroomsatallgradelevelsandincolleges.

Monitorandsignalwhetheryourchildisontrackforsuccessincollegeoracareer.Thenewtestswillsignalwhetheryourchildismakingexpectedprogressandwhetherheorsheisontracktosucceedin

collegeorcareersorneedsextrasupport.Rightnow,toomanyyoungpeoplegraduatefromhighschool

unpreparedandunexpectedlygetstuckinexpensive,noncredit-bearingremedialcoursesincollege

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coursesthatdonotleadtoadegreeorcertificate

atacommunitycollege,four-yearcollegeor

university,ortechnicaltrainingprogram. Provideeducatorsandparentsusefuldataon

studentachievementinatimelyway.Teachers,

parentsandstudentssometimesgettestdata

muchtoolate,evenaftertheschoolyearhas

ended.Thenewcomputer-basedPARCCtests

willprovideresultsmuchfasterandinamore

usefulformatthanbefore.PARCCplansto

releasemorethanjustscores.Italsowillrelease

aportionofthetestquestionsandanswersat

theendofeachyear,soparentsandeducatorscanusethedatatohelpreinforcewhatstudents

aredoingwellandwheretheyneedtoimprove.

ConnecttotheCommonCoreStateStandards.Nearlyeverystateisworkingtoimplement

rigorousK12standardsthatspelloutwhatyour

childneedstoknowineachgradeinELA/literacy

andmathtoensureheorsheisontracktosucceedincollegeorcareers.Thenewtestswillassess

learningbasedonthesenewstandards.

Providecomparabilityamongstatesandequityamongstudents.EverychildinAmericadeservesaccesstoexcellentstandardsandassessments,

andmastering4thgrademathshouldmeanthesame

thingfromschooltoschoolandstatetostate.PARCCwillassesswhateverystudentknowsandcandofromhigh-achievingtolow-achievingchildren.Thecomputer-basedtestswillalsobetterenable

peoplewithdisabilitiesandEnglishlanguagelearnerstodemonstratetheirknowledgeandskills.

GettingReady TrainingTeachers.Educatorsfromacrossthecountryhavebeenworkingwiththeirstatesthrough

PARCCtobecomeleadersandexpertsonthenewassessments.Theyaresharingtheirknowledgeand

expertisewiththeirpeersandwillhelpotherteachersgetuptospeedonthenewtests.

Technology.Schoolswillbeabletousearangeofdevicesfromdesktopcomputerstolaptopsandtablets.Thisisthesametechnologyusedforinstructionalpurposesthroughouttheyear.Schoolsacross

thecountryarenowdeterminingwhatadditionaltechnologyandbandwidththeymayneedtoadministerthetests.

WhatYouCanDo.Nowisthetimetoaskquestionsandfindouthowteachersarepreparingforthenewassessments,whatkindofplanningishappeningandhowyoucanhelpyourchildgetready.

PleasevisitthePARCCwebsiteatwww.PARCConline.org.Youwillfindsampletestquestionsandmore

informationaboutthedesignanddevelopmentofthesenewassessments.Ifyouwouldliketocontact

PARCC,pleasegotowww.PARCConline.org/contact.

Thissampletestitemhasmorethanonepossible

solution.Unliketraditionalmultiplechoice,guessing

thecorrectanswerorusingastrategytoeliminate

choicesisdifficult.Studentscanalsocreateavisual

representationeventhoughthetaskisscoredbya

computer.

Grade3SampleTestItem

http://parcconline.org/instructional-technology-purchases-guidancehttp://www.parcconline.org/educator-cadreshttp://www.parcconline.org/contacthttp://www.parcconline.org/http://www.parcconline.org/