PARCC Information for Parents Rockaway Borough Schools Mark Schwarz, Superintendent Jamie Argenziano, Supervisor of Curriculum and Instruction January 6, 2015

Background on PARCC Law Requires schools to test students Pros: Standardized measurement of student progress High quality assessment Ability to compare student progress from year to year Quality assurance Cons: Only one measure of performance Loss of instructional time Can result in a high pressure environment Temptation for schools to focus on test-prep

Rockaway Borough Performance About the data: 2015 PARCC data release did not provide subgroup disagregations – data is all-inclusive (gen ed, spec ed, ELLs, etc) TJ data does not include Algebra 1 students All data is expressed as the % difference between district and state average performances Calculations take into consideration differing scales Calculations allow for comparison between NJASK and PARCC Grade level data is always expressed longitudinally by cohort over time School and district level data does not account for change in incoming/outgoing students

Class of 2015 – 8th Grade

Class of 2016 – 7th Grade

Class of 2017 – 6th Grade

Class of 2018 – 5th Grade

Class of 2019 – 4th Grade

Class of 2020 – 3rd Grade

LES (3rd Grade) over 5 years

TJ over 5 years

TJ’s 8th Grade over 5 years

District over 5 years

Take-aways… District-wide initiatives over the last two years have made an impact WIN Intervention program available for all students Progress monitoring of all students in Math and ELA Standards-based curriculum and instruction Accelerated Reader program – independent reading every day!!! RAMS district-wide positive behavior program Inclusive special-education culture 5th Grade program needs to be reevaluated Rockaway Borough Schools are on the RISE!!!

What testing means for your child We care about your child’s educational progress The test provides parents with meaningful information regarding your child’s strengths and areas for improvement Our schools use your child’s test scores as a part of your child’s performance data set, HOWEVER… No child’s opportunities are restricted by poor scores

Test Design Changes – One Testing Window

Rockaway Borough Tentative Testing Dates 8th Grade: April 11th- April 18th 7th Grade: April 11th- April 18th 6th Grade: April 19th-April 26th 5th Grade: April 19th-April 27th 4th Grade: April 28th-May 6th 3rd Grade: April 28th-May 6th

Test Design Changes - 90 Minute Reduction Overall times include Reading/Writing and Mathematics across all test units per grade The adjustments to the test will reduce testing time by about 90 minutes in all grade levels with the new range being anywhere from 8.25 hours for third grade students to 9.7 hours for high school students. Keep in mind that those hours will be spread across 5-7 days.

http://bealearninghero.org/classroom/parcc#

What Parents Need to Know About the Score Reports The PARCC tests moves to questions that allow students to demonstrate a real understanding of what they know and can do by writing essays, solving real world problems, and reading and analyzing complex text—all critical skills in the real-world. Your child’s score may look lower this year because the tests measured more complex skills. A low score does not mean your child did not improve or learned less, but instead that the expectations have been raised for students. The first year’s scores are a new baseline from which we can measure progress moving forward. The PARCC website provide samples of the types of questions asked and the level of sophistication required from students. There are some multiple choice questions on PARCC, but there are also much more advanced questions that could not be asked the same way on a paper-based test. Some of you with older children may remember when the NJASK literacy assessment was changed, around 2007 or when the calculation method for graduation rate was changed a few years ago. In both cases, the expectations were raised and there was a temporary drop in scores. This does not necessarily mean performance went down; it means that expectations went up. It’s important to reacting but not overreact and considering PARCC results in the context of all the information we have about student learning.

Scoring: How is PARCC different? NJASK 3 Levels Scale of 100-300 Basic data Received in Fall of following year PARCC 5 Levels Scale of 1-5 Rich data Year 1: Receive in Fall of following year Years after: Receive by June of current school year The Score Report

Five Performance Levels PARCC uses five performance levels that delineate the knowledge, skills, and practices students are able to demonstrate: Level 1: Did Not Yet Meet Expectations Level 2: Partially Met Expectations Level 3: Approached Expectations Level 4: Met Expectations Level 5: Exceeded Expectations Place a purple frame around images More descriptive range

Score Reports Is my student meeting grade level expectations? What does this data say about my student? Score Reports Now I’d like to walk you through a sample score report to give a sense of what you will be looking at when it arrives home. There were copies of the Parent Guide to the PARCC Score Report at the table when you arrived, which may be helpful to follow along with as I walk through it up here.

Five Performance Levels This section shows an overall numerical score on a 650-850 scale and a performance level based on that scale. You’ll notice that there is also comparable information to school, district, state, and PARCC consortium to give you a sense of where your child’s performance is relative to other children who took the same test.

Individual Student Report: ELA/L The detailed breakdown section then goes into even more detail about the specific skills to the content area. In English Language Arts, for example, this student is meeting or exceeding expectations in vocabulary and knowledge and use of language conventions, nearly meeting expectations in informational text, and below expectations in literary text and writing expression. Again, this is designed to give parents a simple visual cue to where a child’s relative strengths and weaknesses are.

Individual Student Report: Math

Skill Builder http://bealearninghero.org/skill-builder Parents can use the Skill Builder to locate learning activities and supplemental homework aligned to the PARCC testing categories. Select a state, grade, subject and category to locate activities tailored to how your child did on the test and help him/her improve these skills. Every resource is labeled as below, nearly meeting, and meeting or exceeding expectations.   http://bealearninghero.org/skill-builder

Closing Points Participation in testing is good for students, when part of a meaningful and high-quality educational program PARCC is an ever-improving test – but no test is perfect We encourage all students to take the test and do their best If you have any questions, our staff is here to help

PARCC Performance Rockaway Borough Schools Mark Schwarz, Superintendent Jamie Argenziano, Supervisor of Curriculum and Instruction January 6, 2015