PARCC in New Jersey New Jersey Department of Education March 2013

Agenda Why PARCC tests will be tests worth taking Instructional Shifts and Assessment Advances Tests that reflect and support instruction Data at granular levels for students and standards The ONE thing you should do now to get ready Performance Division New Jersey Department of Education 2

PARCC’s Core Commitments to ELA/Literacy Assessment Quality Texts Worth Reading: The assessments will use authentic texts worthy of study instead of artificially produced or commissioned passages. Questions Worth Answering: Sequences of questions that draw students into deeper encounters with texts will be the norm (as in an excellent classroom), rather than sets of random questions of varying quality. Performance Division New Jersey Department of Education 3

Shift 1: Engage with Complex Text 1.PARCC builds a staircase of text complexity to ensure students are on track each year for college and career reading. 2.PARCC rewards careful, close reading rather than racing through passages. 3.PARCC systematically focuses on the words that matter most—not obscure vocabulary, but the academic language that pervades complex texts. Performance Division New Jersey Department of Education 4

Shift 2: Extract and Employ Evidence 4.PARCC focuses on students rigorously citing evidence from texts throughout the assessment. 5.PARCC includes questions with more than one right answer to allow students to generate a range of rich insights. 6.PARCC requires writing to sources rather than writing to de-contextualized expository prompts. 7.PARCC also includes rigorous expectations for narrative writing, including accuracy and precision in writing in later grades. Performance Division New Jersey Department of Education 5

Shift 3: Building knowledge 8.PARCC assesses not just ELA but a full range of reading and writing across the disciplines of science and social studies. 9.PARCC simulates research on the assessment, including the comparison and synthesis of ideas across a range of informational sources. Performance Division New Jersey Department of Education 6

Grade 3 Technology-Enhanced Constructed-Response Item Drag the words from the word box into the correct locations on the graphic to show the life cycle of a butterfly as described in “How Animals Live.” Words: Performance Division New Jersey Department of Education 7 7 Pupa Adult Egg Larva

Aligns to the Standards and Reflects Good Practice Specific CCSS alignment to: RI.3.1 (use of evidence). RI.3.3 (relationship between events). RI.3.10 (complex texts). Reflects the key shift of building knowledge from informational text: students must apply their understanding of the text to complete the graphic. requires explicit references to the text as the basis for the answers rather than simply guessing. Whereas traditional items might have asked students to “fill in one blank” on a graphic (with three steps already provided), this technology enhanced item allows students to demonstrate understanding of the entire sequence of the life cycle because none of the steps are ordered for them. Performance Division New Jersey Department of Education 8

PARCC’s Core Commitments to Math Assessment Quality Problems worth doing: Multi-step problems, conceptual questions, applications, and substantial procedures will be common, as in an excellent classroom. Performance Division New Jersey Department of Education 9

Shifts in the Math Standards at the Heart of PARCC Design 1.Focus: The PARCC Assessment will focus strongly where the Standards focus 2.Coherence: Think across grades and link to major topics within grades 3.Rigor: In major topics, pursue conceptual understanding, procedural skill and fluency, and application. Performance Division New Jersey Department of Education 10

Grade 3 Technology-Enhanced Constructed-Response Item Performance Division New Jersey Department of Education 11

Replacing NJASK and HSPA Prior to Secondary – PARCC grade level assessments will replace NJASK High School – HSPA will be replaced with End of Course Exams: ELA 9Algebra I ELA 10Geometry ELA 11Algebra II Performance Division New Jersey Department of Education 12

Performance Level Descriptors Level 5: Students performing at this level demonstrate a distinguished command of the knowledge, skills, and practices embodied by the Common Core State Standards assessed at their grade level. Level 4: … strong command … ***College/Career Ready*** Level 3: … moderate command … Level 2: … partial command … Level 1: … minimal command … Performance Division New Jersey Department of Education 13

Test Design Two components to each test at each grade level: A performance-based assessment (PBA) component, administered after approximately 75% of the school year, and An end of year assessment (EOY) component, administered after approximately 90% of the school year. Performance Division New Jersey Department of Education 14

Test Administration Performance Division New Jersey Department of Education 15

Devices – “Rule of Thumb” Performance Division New Jersey Department of Education 16

The ONE thing to do now… Implement the Common Core! Performance Division New Jersey Department of Education 17

A thoughtful transition… Common Core implementation is being supported by revisions to NJ ASK to make them Common Core aligned. School accountability in NJ is not tied to a specific cut score. Our measure of student-level growth, SGP, is a measure of how students did compared to peers. Performance Division New Jersey Department of Education 18

Performance Division 19 Questions? Thank You! New Jersey Department of Education