PARCC Assessments Updates Updates Arrived 2/6/13! general specifics

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THE GOAL IS FOR EACH OF US TO BEGIN TO THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX WHEN IT COMES TO OUR INSTRUCTION IN THE 21 ST CENTURY

Unlike pencil-and-paper bubble tests, these new assessments will more closely resemble high-quality classroom work.

The PARCC assessments will measure the full range of student performance, including he performance of high-and low-achieving students. Too often, now, tests don’t adequately measure the skills and knowledge of students working significantly beyond or behind their grade level.

PARCC assessments are more comprehensive than current state tests. They look much deeper at student writing abilities and critical-thinking skills in ELA/literacy.

The new assessments are designed to measure the full range of knowledge and skills students need to be career and college ready or on track toward that goal.

These assessments will address a long- standing concern among educators and parents about large-scale student assessments – they have been unable to capture some of the most important skills that we strive to develop in students.

The new tests also will be linked to college and career readiness standards so students and parents will have data about whether students are on track for success in college-level coursework or need extra help.

The PARCC assessments will test writing skills at every grade level, a component not included in some current state assessments. They will also assess critical thinking and problem-solving skills in an in-depth manner.

PARCC has two required assessment components that make up a student’s overall score: – the performance-based assessment (PBA) component – the end-of-year (EOY) assessment component.

12 PARCC Assessment Design 90% Will consist of a range of item types including innovative technology-enhanced items to sample the full set of grade level standards Will include items across a wide range of cognitive demand END OF YEAR ASSESSMENT

A performance-based assessment (PBA) component, administered after approximately 75% of the school year

The performance-based assessment component is administered after about three-fourths of the instructional year is completed and requires students to apply their knowledge to complex problems and produce a product. For example, a student might be asked to read texts and write essays drawing from those. Similarly, a student could be asked to apply a key math concept toward solving real-world problems.

An end of year assessment (EOY) component, administered after approximately 90% of the school year.

The end-of-year assessment component is administered after about 90 percent of instructional days have passed. It requires students to demonstrate the knowledge and skills they have acquired by responding to computer-scored questions.

Both the performance-based assessment and end-of-year assessment component will be administered via computer devices. Computer-based testing offers a number of advantages over pencil-and-paper tests. They are more efficient, innovative, engaging, and they produce timely data for students and teachers that can improve teaching and learning.

The mathematics PBAs at each grade level will include both short- and extended-response questions focused on conceptual knowledge and skills, and the mathematical practices of reasoning and modeling. The mathematics EOY assessments will be comprised primarily of short-answer questions focused on conceptual knowledge, skills, and understandings.

The PARCC PBA and EOY assessments will be administered in a total of nine sessions. At each grade level the PBA component will require five sessions – three sessions for ELA/Literacy and two sessions for mathematics. The EOY component at each grade level will require four sessions – two sessions for ELA/Literacy and two sessions for mathematics.

8 hours on performance-based and end-of- year assessments in ELA/literacy and math annually in 3rd grade Just over 9 hours to assess those subjects in grades 4–5 A little less than 9 ½ hours in middle school A little more than 9 ½ hours in high school

These times refer to on-task time, or the time it will take most students to complete the PARCC summative tests in both content areas.

What sort of data/reporting will teachers receive based on the PARCC assessments? In both content areas, the PARCC score will include the results from both the performance-based assessment (PBA) and end-of-year (EOY) assessment components.

Schools and districts will have a maximum of two four-week windows to complete the administration of the performance-based and end-of-year components (one window per component). States or districts can choose to administer the tests in a shorter time span if they have sufficient capacity to do that. Some states are working with schools and districts to set a shorter window.

PARCC’s estimated testing time is reasonable and reflects the shift from traditional multiple choice tests to performance-based assessments. The new assessments are designed to measure the full range of knowledge and skills students need to be career and college ready or on track toward that goal, through performance based tasks. The assessments will be innovative in design and more engaging for students.

How quickly will performance-based assessment data be returned to teachers? PARCC tests will yield results in a timely manner rather than requiring students and teachers to wait months or well into the next school year for results. The new assessments will improve instruction and accountability in our schools by helping school leaders and policymakers have better data about what students know and can do. PARCC’s goal is to have data from the performance-based assessment returned before the end of the school year.

Development. The PARCC states have contracted with two groups of vendors to develop the range of items and tasks that will make up the PARCC mid-year, performance- based and end-of-year assessments in English language arts/literacy and mathematics for grade 3 through high school. These include prime contractors Pearson and Educational Testing Services (ETS), each working with a set of subcontractors.

Will schools / LEAs have access to practice tests and will students have opportunities to practice? PARCC will also release items to help teachers ensure that students are can be familiar with the format of the assessment and with the technology expected on the operational assessment.

Will schools / LEAs have access to practice tests and will students have opportunities to practice? Yes. The goal is to create an assessment that models the kind of work students are already doing in classrooms. In essence, “practice” should be occurring throughout the school year. Additionally, a practice test consisting of representative items at each grade level will be constructed and made available to all students in all PARCC states in computer-administered mode as a practice test in spring 2014.