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

2. 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

3. 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

4. Class of 2015 – 8th Grade

5. Class of 2016 – 7th Grade

6. Class of 2017 – 6th Grade

7. Class of 2018 – 5th Grade

8. Class of 2019 – 4th Grade

9. Class of 2020 – 3rd Grade

10. LES (3rd Grade) over 5 years

11. TJ over 5 years

12. TJ’s 8th Grade over 5 years

13. District over 5 years

14. 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!!!

15. 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

16. Test Design Changes – One Testing Window

17. 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

18. 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.

20. 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.

21. Scoring: How is PARCC different?
NJASK
3 Levels
Scale of
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

22. 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

23. 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.

24. Five Performance Levels
This section shows an overall numerical score on a 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.

25. 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.

26. Individual Student Report: Math

27. 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.  

28. 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

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