1. The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers

2. A Strong Foundation: The Common Core State Standards
Nearly every state in the nation is working individually and collectively to improve its academic standards and assessments to ensure students graduate with the knowledge and skills most demanded by college and careers
The Common Core State Standards in English language arts/literacy and mathematics were created by educators around the nation

3. 45 States + DC Have Adopted the Common Core State Standards
TALKING POINTS:
45 States and the District of Columbia have adopted the Common Core State Standards
Most states are committed to implementing the standards by the school year
*Minnesota adopted the CCSS in ELA/literacy only

4. Key Advances of the Common Core
MATHEMATICS
Focus, coherence and clarity:emphasison key topics at each grade level and coherentprogression across grades
Procedural fluency and understanding of concepts and skills
Promote rigor through mathematical proficiencies that foster reasoning and understanding across discipline
High school standardsorganized by conceptual categories
ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS/LITERACY
Balance of literature and informational texts; focus on text complexity
Emphasis on argument, informative/ explanatory writing, and research
Speaking and listening skills
Literacy standards for history, science and technical subjects
TALKING POINTS
Focus, coherence and clarity
MATHEMATICS
Focus on key topics at each grade level
Coherent progressions across grade levels
Addresses long-heard criticism of mile-wide, inch-deep math curricula
Procedural fluency and understanding of concepts and skills
Content standards require both conceptual understanding and procedural fluency
Mathematical proficiencies
Mathematical proficiencies students should develop (e.g., abstract reasoning, modeling,precision, perseverance, strategic use of tools, making arguments)
Using mathematics to understand a problem – even in new or unfamiliar contexts
Organized around conceptual categories
Standards are organized into conceptual categories and models of traditional, integrated, &advanced courses
Promotes various approaches to high school curriculum
ELA/LITERACY
Reading
Balance of literature and informational texts
Focus on text complexity and what students read
Writing
Emphasis on argument and informative/explanatory writing
Writing about sources (evidence) – answer questions that require students to have readthe text
Speaking and Listening
Inclusion of formal and informal talk
Literacy standards for history, science and technical subjects
Promotes the idea that teaching literacy skills is not just the job of the English teacher
Complements rather than replaces those subjects
BOTH CONTENT AREAS
Anchored in college and career readiness
Explicitly define the knowledge and skills that students must master to be college and career ready by the end of high school, and the knowledge and skills in each grade that build towards that goal
ANCHORED IN COLLEGE AND CAREER READINESS

5. What’s Next? Common Assessments
Common Core State Standards are critical, but it is just the first step
Common assessments aligned to the Common Core will help ensure the new standards truly reach every classroom
TALKING POINTS
While the Common Core State Standards are a critical first step, they alone will not bring about the instructional changes necessary to improve student achievement and attainment. Creating common assessments grounded in common standards is the logical next step and will ensure the new standards truly reach every classroom
I think we will all agree that the current system is broken. Every state develops their own assessments and for that reasons our nation’s assessments:
Are of varying quality and rigor and rarely point toward College- and Career-Readiness.
Do not provide meaningful, real-time data for our educators, parents and policymakers
Cannot be compared from state to state, ensuring that students in Mass. And Miss. are receiving the same foundation
Next generation assessments will:
Provide a more complete picture of student performance against college- and career-ready expectations
Use current and future technologies to provide a meaningful assessment and useful data
Mitigate Challenges associated with mobility—which is a major challenge in education
U.S Department of Education set aside $350 million of Race to the Top funding for awards to consortia of states to design and develop common K-12 assessment systems aligned to common, college- and career- ready standards. In Sept. 2010, the U.S. Department of Education awarded grants to the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) and Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC)

6. Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC)
TALKING POINTS
PARCC is an alliance of 25 states, educating nearly 25 million students, that are working together to develop a common set of K-12 assessments in English and math anchored in what it takes to be ready for college and careers. PARCC is led by 17 governing board states (and D.C.) represented in Dark Blue.
CLICK: The chair of the governing board is Mitchell Chester, Education Commissioner of Massachusetts, and the state of Florida is serving as its fiscal agent.
CLICK: Achieve is the project manager for PARCC, essentially serving as the staff for the consortium and coordinating the work. Collectively the PARCC states educate nearly 25 million students.
Governing States will pilot and field test the assessment system components over the next three years and administer the new assessment system during the school year. Governing States will use the results from the PARCC assessments in their state accountability systems
The chief state school officers of the Governing States serve on the PARCC Governing Board and make decisions on behalf of the Partnership on major policies and operational procedures
Participating States (light blue) provide staff to serve on PARCC’s design committees, working groups, and other task forces established by the Governing Board to conduct the work necessary to design and develop PARCC’s proposed assessment system.By 2014– 15, any state that remains in PARCC must commit to statewide implementation and administration of the Partnership’s assessment system Any PARCC Participating State prepared to make the commitments and take on the responsibilities of a Governing State can become one
NOTES
Leadership Team: Comprised of delegates of K-12 chiefs from Governing Board States (e.g., Assoc. Supt for Curriculum, Assessment and/or Instruction)
Technical Advisory Committee: Comprised of state/national assessment experts
Governing Board: Comprised of K-12 chiefs from Governing Board States
Operational Working Groups: Comprised of national, state, and local experts and leaders in their specific areas of expertise
ACCR: Comprised of national and state postsecondary leaders
Governing Board States Participating States

7. K-12 and Postsecondary Roles in PARCC
K-12 Educators & Education Leaders
Educators will be involved throughout the development of the PARCC assessments and related instructional and reporting tools to help ensure the system provides the information and resources educators most need
Postsecondary Faculty & Leaders
More than 200 institutions and systems covering hundreds of campuses across PARCC states have committed to help develop the high school assessments and set the college-ready cut score that they will then use to place incoming freshmen
TALKING POINTS
This is a state-led initiative, but the input of those in the field will be crucial. That includes both K-12 teachers and leaders, as well as faculty and leaders from the higher education community.
K-12: We have already engaged more than 1,000 educators directly in the process. Some will sit on our content teams and committees that will develop and implement the assessments. Many have provided input through surveys or have simply engaged us in a conversation. We are thrilled to have this involvement and it will only grow as we move forward. This will include the development of K-12 educator cadres that will allow educators the opportunity to learn about PARCC up close and personally, test the instructional tools described above, and get the information they need to educate their peers on PARCC and its related resources.
POSTSECONDARY: Our postsecondary community will be vital partners in the creation and implementation of these next generation assessments. This is crucial because the whole point is to make sure we are assessing students for college- and career-readiness. So the postsecondary community will be an important partner in this effort.

8. Create high-quality assessments
The PARCC Goals
Create high-quality assessments
Build a pathway to college and career readiness for all students
Support educators in the classroom
Develop 21st century, technology-based assessments
Advance accountability at all levels
Create high-quality assessments that measure the full range of the CCSS AND the full range of student achievement, including the achievement of high and low performing students.

9. Goal #1: Create High Quality Assessments
Priority Purposes of PARCC Assessments:
Determine whether students are college- and career-readyor on track
Assess the full range of the Common Core Standards, including standards that are difficult to measure
Measure the full range of student performance, including the performance high and low performing students
Provide data during the academic year to inform instruction, interventions and professional development
Provide data for accountability, including measures of growth
Incorporate innovative approaches throughout the system

10. Goal #1: Create High Quality Assessments
To address these priority purposes, PARCC will develop an assessment system comprised of four components. Each component will computer-delivered and will leverage technology to incorporate innovations.
Two summative assessment components designed to
Make “college- and career-readiness” and “on-track” determinations
Measure the full range of standards and full performance continuum
Provide data for accountability uses, including measures of growth
Two formative assessment components designed to
Generate timely information for informing instruction, interventions, and professional development during the school year
In ELA/literacy, an additional third formative component will assess students’ speaking and listening skills
For those that have been following the development of PARCC, the Governing Board did make some refinements to the design based on the input from the PARCC states.
As with PARCC’s initial design, there will be four components to the PARCC system.
PARCC will develop all four components – the first two will be available for all PARCC states and districts to use and administer flexibly.
Summative assessment components will:
Measure the full range of the CCSS and the full range of student performance, including low- and high-performing students
Include achievement levels that signify whether students are “college- and career-ready” by the end of high school and on-track in earlier grades
Produce data that can be used to make a variety of accountability determinations, including measures of student growth
The formative components will be designed to generate timely information during the academic year that can inform instruction, professional development, and supports and interventions for students.
In ELA/literacy, there will be an additional formative component that will assess the speaking and listening standards in the Common Core.

11. Goal #1: Create High Quality Assessments
Summative Assessment Components:
Performance-Based Assessment (PBA) administered as close to the end of the school year as possible. The ELA/literacy PBA will focus on writing effectively when analyzing text. The mathematics PBA will focus on applying skills, concepts, and understandings to solve multi-step problems requiring abstract reasoning, precision, perseverance, and strategic use of tools
End-of-Year Assessment (EOY) administered after approx. 90% of the school year. The ELA/literacy EOY will focus on reading comprehension. The math EOY will be comprised of innovative, machine-scorable items
Formative Assessment Components:
Early Assessment designed to be an indicator of student knowledge and skills so that instruction, supports and professional development can be tailored to meet student needs
Mid-Year Assessment comprised of performance-based items and tasks, with an emphasis on hard-to-measure standards. After study, individual states may consider including as a summative component
Overview of two summative assessment components:
Performance-Based Assessment:
Administered as close to the end of the year as possible
Will include essays and other high-quality, complex items.
End-of-Year:
Computer-scored, but would be far from the traditional “multiple choice” tests.
There will be multistep problems and tasks that students must complete in order to find the correct answer.
Overview of formative components:
Early Assessments:
Designed to be administered close to the beginning of the year.
Will provide an early snapshot of achievement knowledge and skills so that educators can tailor instruction, supports for students, and professional development to meet students’ needs.
Mid-Year Assessment:
Designed to be administered near the middle of the school year.
Performance-based
Will focus on hard-to-measure standards in the CCSS
Teachers could score this assessment to get quick feedback on student learning relative to the CCSS.
These components are:
are formative assessments
are developed by PARCC with its grant funds
are available to all PARCC states and their local districts
are intended to be administered early and midway through the school year
however, allow for flexible administration-- they can be administered at locally determined times, including at the discretion of the classroom teacher
can be scored quickly -- some can be computer administered and scored, others can be scored by the classroom teacher -- so that teachers can have timely information that can inform instruction for their students

12. Goal #1: Create High Quality Assessments
The PARCC assessments will allow us to make important claims about students’ knowledge and skills.
In English Language Arts/Literacy, whether students:
Can Read and Comprehend Complex Literary and Informational Text
Can Write Effectively When Analyzing Text
Have attained overall proficiency in ELA/literacy
In Mathematics, whether students:
Have mastered knowledge and skills in highlighted domains (e.g. domain of highest importance for a particular grade level – number/ fractions in grade 4; proportional reasoning and ratios in grade 6)
Have attained overall proficiency in mathematics
Based on the priority purposes for the assessments, the PARCC states are designing the assessments so that they enable us to make the following claims about students:
ELA/literacy:
Students can read and comprehend complex literary and informational text
Can write effectively to sources
Have attained overall proficiency in ELA/literacy – e.g. whether they are “college- and career-ready” in ELA/literacy by the end of high school or are on-track in earlier grades.
Mathematics:
Students have mastered the knowledge & skills in highlighted domains in mathematics – these are the domains of highest importance for a particular grade level. For example, in grade 4, whether students have mastered numbers and fractions. The highlighted domain varies from grade-level to grade-level, depending on the area of focus emphasized in the CCSS.
Have attained overall proficiency in mathematics – e.g. whether they are “college- and career-ready” in mathematics by the end of high school or are on-track in earlier grades.

13. Goal #1: Create High-Quality Assessments
Flexible
Performance-Based
Assessment (PBA)
Extended tasks
Applications of concepts and skills
End-of-Year
Assessment
Innovative, computer-based items
Early Assessment
Early indicator of student knowledge and skills to inform instruction, supports, and PD
Mid-Year Assessment
Performance-based
Emphasis on hard to measure standards
Potentially summative
TALKING POINTS
Graphic depiction of the assessment system.
The PARCC assessment system will:
Better reflect the sophisticated knowledge and skills found in the English and math Common Core State Standards
Include a mix of item types (e.g., short answer, richer multiple choice, longer open response, performance-based)
Make significant use of technology
Include testing at key points throughout the year to give teachers, parents and students better information about whether students are on track or need additional support in particular areas
ELA/Literacy
Speaking
Listening
Summative assessment for accountability
Formative assessment 13

14. Goal #2: Build a Pathway to College and Career Readiness for All Students
K-2 formative assessment being developed, aligned to the PARCC system
Timely student achievement data showing students, parents and educators whether ALL students are on-track to college and career readiness
College readiness score to identify who is ready for college-level coursework
Targeted interventions & supports:
12th-grade bridge courses
PD for educators
K-2
3-8
High School
SUCCESS IN FIRST-YEAR, CREDIT-BEARING, POSTSECONDARY COURSEWORK
The PARCC assessment system will be aligned to the college- and career-ready, Common Core State Standards, and is being designed to challenge students, help identify when they’re not meeting the standards, and provide targeted instruction, supports and interventions to help them succeed
Students who score proficient on the assessments will know they are on track for the next steps in their education, creating a more meaningful target
In high school, results will send an early signal about whether students are ready for entry-level, non-remedial courses at higher education institutions in all 25 PARCC states
Students who are identified as not being on track, or who do not meet the college readiness score, will receive targeted supports and interventions
Higher education partners in PARCC—more than 200 institutions and systems covering nearly 1,000 campuses across the country—have committed to help develop the high school assessments and set the college-ready cut score that will be used to place incoming freshman in credit-bearing college courses
ONGOING STUDENT SUPPORTS/INTERVENTIONS

15. Goal #3: Support Educators in the Classroom
INSTRUCTIONAL TOOLS TO SUPPORT IMPLEMENTATION
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT MODULES
K-12 Educator
TALKING POINTS
The PARCC assessments will be built with the K-12 educator in mind around four different areas.
(CLICK) INSTRUCTIONAL TOOLS TO SUPPORT IMPLEMENTATION
Content frameworks
Sample assessment tasks
Model instructional units
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT MODULES
Common Assessment : PD focused on the implementation the new assessments
Common Assessment : PD focused on how to interpret and use the assessment results
TIMELY STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT DATA
Aligned performance-based assessments given throughout year
Data reports will be available, designed with teacher use in mind
EDUCATOR-LED TRAINING TO SUPPORT “PEER-TO-PEER” TRAINING
Training for cadres of K-12 educators around the instructional tools AND around training their peers to use the instructional tools
TIMELY STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT DATA
EDUCATOR-LED TRAINING TO SUPPORT “PEER-TO-PEER” TRAINING

16. Goal #4: Develop 21st Century, Technology-Based Assessments
PARCC’s assessment will be computer-based and leverage technology in a range of ways to:
Item Development
Develop innovative tasks that engage students in the assessment process
Administration
Reduce paperwork, increase security, reduce shipping/receiving & storage
Increase access to and provision of accommodations for SWDs and ELLs
Scoring
Make scoring more efficient by combining human and automated approaches
Reporting
Produce timely reports of students performance throughout the year to inform instructional, interventions, and professional development

17. Goal #4: Develop 21st Century, Technology-Based Assessments
PARCC assessments will be purposefully designed to generate valid, reliable and timely data, including measures of growth,for various accountability uses including:
School and district effectiveness
Educator effectiveness
Student placement into college-credit bearing courses
Comparisons with other state and international benchmarks
PARCC assessments will be designed for other accountability uses as states deem appropriate

18. Implementation and Instructional Support & Next Steps

19. PARCC’s Implementation Support & Stakeholder Engagement
To support state efforts to implement and transition to the Common Core and next generation assessments, PARCC will facilitate:
Strategic planning and collective problem solving for the implementation of CCSS and PARCC assessments
Collaborative efforts to develop the highest priority instructional and support tools
Multi-state support to build leadership cadres of educators
Multi-state support to engage the postsecondary community around the design and use of the assessments
Strategic planning and collective problem solving
PARCC will convene two multi-state transition and implementation strategic planning institutes per year where state leadership teams composed of state and district leaders will:
Receive support to develop and execute strategic transition and implementation plans,
Focus on common policy decisions, challenges, and milestones, and
Monitor progress against their strategic plans
In between the convenings, there will be regularly-held webinars on specific high-priority topics to help all states continue to make progress towards implementation
Collaborative efforts to develop the highest priority instructional tools: PARCC is developing a robust set of high-quality instructional tools to help the education community transition to the next generation assessment system.
Content Frameworks will help identify priority big ideas in the standards that can help determine the focus for the various assessment components. While one intended audience is district-level curriculum supervisors and state content experts, the frameworks will also be easily accessible to teachers
Model instructional units aligned to the CCSS and PARCC content frameworks, and anchored around a PARCC assessment component
Sample assessment tasks that will mirror the tasks that will be included on the PARCC assessments
Professional development modules to help teachers, counselors, school leaders and school site testing coordinators understand the PARCC system
College-ready tools, such as model 12th-grade bridge courses for students who don’t score college ready on the high school assessments.
PARCC also has a few tools planned to support the new assessment system including:
Text Complexity Diagnostic Tool: a computer-adaptive tool to identify students’ reading level and supply suggestions for appropriate texts for students to read to stretch their reading and put them on a growth path.
K-2 Assessments in ELA/Literacy and Mathematics, which are optional for states to administer
Partnership Resource Center, which will house the model content frameworks’ sample assessment tasks; released items with item data, student work, and rubrics
Multi-state support to build leadership cadres of educators who are deeply engaged in the use of those tools, the CCSS and the PARCC assessments.
Multi-state support to engage the postsecondary community around the design and use of the assessments

20. PARCC Timeline Development beginsSY
Development begins SY
First year pilot/field testing and related research and data collection SY
Second year pilot/field testing and related research and data collection SY
Full administration of PARCC assessments SY
Launch and design phase
Summer 2015
Set achievement levels, including college-ready performance levels

21. Key Challenges for PARCC
Technical Challenges
Developing an interoperable technology platform
Transitioning to a computer-based assessment system
Developing and implementing automated scoring systems and processes
Identifying effective, innovative item types
Implementation Challenges
Estimating costs over time, including long- term budgetary planning
Transitioning to the new assessments at the classroom level
Ensuring long-term sustainability
Policy Challenges
Student supports and interventions
Accountability
High school course requirements
College admissions/ placement
Perceptions about what these assessments can do
TALKING POINTS
Obviously this is a huge change for our consortium states and there certainly will be challenges. We really see these in three areas.
Technical Challenges: Addressing the technology gaps for the implementation, administration and scoring of these next generation assessments.
Implementation Challenges: We must make sure our states and districts are ready to transition to these new assessments by and that they can sustain. Obviously, the biggest concern of all states right now is the budget. That won’t change in the next few years.
Police Challenges: These assessments will require some, if not all of our states to review their policies and make adjustments. Through outreach and support we must make sure there are no “surprises.”
We will collaborate and innovate to overcome these challenges. While these are real challenge, they can be overcome.

22. PARCC Highlights: The Work is Underway
Governing Board meetings where major decisions have been made around assessment design, procurement schedule, committee structure and by-laws
Consortium-wide and in-state meetings, including first Transition & Implementation Institute, attended by 200 state and district leaders from 22 states
Release of final by-laws, draft content frameworks and launch of PARCC website (
Direct engagement with over 1,000 educators, K-12 and postsecondary leaders and state and local officials
Three Governing Board meetings held through summer 2011with up to 15 state superintendents in attendance where major decisions have been made around the PARCC assessment design, procurement schedule and standing and ad-hoc committees
Launch of the first in the series of Transition & Implementation Institutes, attended by about 300 state and district leaders from across 22 states.
Release of final and draft materials, including the PARCC By-Laws, draft content frameworks, and
Launch of PARCC website ( and Vimeo channel with PARCC- and CCSS-specific videos (
A range of multi-state and in-state meetings with state and local K-12 and postsecondary leaders around assessment design and transitioning to the new standards and assessments
In total, PARCC has engaged directly with over 1,000 state, local, K-12 and postsecondary education leaders through one or more of the activities described above.

23. The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers
September 2011