1. Stepping Up with PARCC All students deserve access to a world-class education that will prepare them for success in college and careers. To work toward that goal, YOUR STATE voluntarily adopted new, more rigorous academic standards in 2010. Local school districts have developed their own curriculum to meet the new standards, and teachers have enhanced their daily instruction to help our students stay on track. However, higher standards alone is not enough to ensure that our students receive the excellent education they are entitled to. We also need high-quality assessments to measure students’ progress toward the new standards. The organization that is responsible for developing the assessments in our state is the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC). These assessments serve as an educational GPS system, identifying where a student is excelling and where they may need extra help to get where they need to be. High- quality assessments help us ensure that all students, regardless of income or family background, have equal access to an education that will prepare them for success in college and careers. Your student will take his/her first PARCC assessment on DATE. Here are some key facts about PARCC assessments for you to keep in mind: PARCC assessments were developed by educators. Classroom teachers from elementary, middle and high schools and educators from universities in YOUR STATE have contributed thousands of hours over the past four years to develop the test that is replacing our previous state tests. PARCC assessments test students in grades 3-11 in math and English language arts. Save the Date! Testing window begins in XXX for PARCC part 1: The performance-based open-ended response assessment. Testing window begins XXX for PARCC Part 2: The end-of-year assessment. These tests not only evaluate a student's progress, but show teachers and parents exactly where a student needs help so they are able to personalize instruction to meet individual student needs. PARCC assessments do NOT test rote memorization. Instead, they measure the skills that really matter for college and career success: reasoning, critical thinking, problem solving and writing. Technology is changing the way today’s students learn, and it’s crucial that students develop computer skills. That’s why many PARCC assessments are taken on the computer, instead of on paper. PARCC assessments are more engaging than traditional standardized tests. The math section contains multi-step problems that ask students to reason through real-world situations. The language arts section asks students to read passages from real texts – fiction and non-fiction – and sometimes watch video or listen to audio.

2. Stepping Up with PARCC PARCC assessments also provide parents with much more detailed score reports and feedback on their child’s performance than previous standardized tests did. You can visit parcconline.org to try one of the practice tests for yourself! Before your child’s PARCC assessment, the best way to help them succeed is to talk with their teacher to determine which skills to reinforce at home. Attend parent/teacher conferences and talk with teachers about your child’s strengths and weaknesses. We can work together to ensure that your child is ready to pursue any path in the future! The PARCC assessment is one test with two parts. Students take the first part, known as the performance-based assessment (PBA), in early spring. This test measures critical thinking, reasoning and application skills through “extended tasks” such as written answers or multi-step math problems. The end-of-year assessment (EOY) follows in late spring, consisting of short answer questions and questions that measure skills like reading comprehension, vocabulary and math proficiency. PARCC assessments give students the time they need to think and reason through problems.