What Families Need Need t to Know A Abo bout Ne New Tes ests in n School hools Novemb mber 2 2013
Who W Will t tak ake P PARCC T Tests and W When 17 states and the District of Columbia are working together to develop better reading, writing and math tests for their students Tests are for grades 3-11 Field testing will take place in 2013-14 for about 10 percent of students in PARCC states Schools will administer tests broadly in 2014-15 2
New St Stan andards s Require New w Tests • PARCC tests are aligned to the new Common Core State Standards now in place in K-12 schools nationwide • In most states, the outgoing tests were not ot linked to these more rigorous reading, writing, and math standards • The Common State Core Standards are designed to better prepare students for college and the workforce 3
Widesp spread Supp pport A Among Par arents s for PARCC C Rigor • PARCC tests are more meaningful and challenging than outgoing More tha than fill-in-the-bubble state two wo-thi thirds o of parents s are e tests worrie ied that t • They measure essential their ir c child ildren skills, such as the ability to could m miss out o t on n communicate effectively, impor orta tant nt future reason well, and solve opportu tuni niti ties unless t ss their educati tion b on becom omes m more real-world problems challe lengin ging. g. • Parents want the increased rigor that comes America Achieves Survey, Oct. 2013 with PARCC 4
Why W y We e Need eed to o Raise th the e Bar • On Only ly ab about a t a th thir ird of eighth- graders are meeting math and Every year… reading standards nationwide 1.7 million • Half alf o of U.S. .S. s stu tuden ents who entering college students need remediation enter community colleges need remedial coursework Cost ost: Over because their schools haven’t $3 billion prepared them for success • On One e in in fiv ive s e stu tuden ents entering Data: Complete College America four-year college also isn’t ready to do college work 5
The P he PARCC Pr Promise: Read ady f y for or C College • PARCC will signal in high school whether students are prepared to enter college without needing remediation first • Hundreds of colleges plan to use PARCC scores when placing freshmen into courses • Students who are off track in high school will have time to get help before graduating 6
Online Tests s for an an Online Era • PARCC tests are • PARCC is flexible; can computer-based and be administered on a far more engaging variety of devices that and innovative than schools can use for outgoing paper-and- instruction pencil state tests 7
Mean aningful T Tests s for Al All St Students s Some PARCC features that will help students with disabilities or those learning English show what they know and can do: • Highlighting • Braille (tactile/refreshable) • Customized colors • Signing supports • Text to speech (ASL) • Captions for audio • Assistive • Home language technology supports/tools 8 8
Mean aningful T Tests s for All St Students Outgoing Low Achievement High Achievement tests PARCC TEST • Outgoing state tests are too narrow, focusing on “the bubble,” or kids working in the middle of the performance spectrum • Old tests do a poor job assessing kids at the low and high ends of the achievement scale • PARCC is designed to measure student performance across all ability levels 9
In Reading an and Writing, St Students s Will Ha Have e To… o… Show they can read and understand complex passages Write persuasively Conduct research and present findings Demonstrate speaking and listening skills 10
In Math th, Stud tudents ts W Will Ha Have T e To… o… Show their work and demonstrate that they understand a concept rather than simply memorize a formula Compute quickly and accurately 7 x 7 = 49 Apply their mathematical knowledge to solve real-world problems 11
Old Tes Ol est t vs. . New Tes est See the PARCC difference for yourself Writing pr prom ompt pt on on an PARCC w writ itin ing p promp mpt old, ol d, ou outgoi oing st state test est Third G Grad ade Exam ample Thir ird d Grade de Exampl ple Read the writing prompt below and You have read two texts about famous • • complete the writing activity: people in American history who solved a problem by working to make a change Jump out of bed! Look out the • window! It is a perfect weather day! Write an article for your school newspaper • describing how Eliza and Carver faced Write a story about a day when the • challenges to change something in weather seemed perfect America In your article, be sure to describe in detail • why some solutions they tried worked and others did not work Tell how the challenges each one faced • were the same and how they were different 12
Old Tes Ol est t vs. . New Tes est See the PARCC difference for yourself Math th outg tgoing ng s sta tate t test t PARCC t test est 5th Grad ade E Exam ample 5th Grad ade E Exam ample Mr. E Edmunds sh shared 1 12 pencils a among his s four so sons a as s The town of La Paz, Bolivia, is follows: in the Andes mountains. Alan an r rec ecei eived 1 1/3 o of t the e pen encils • Which of these units could be Bill r received 1 1/4 o of t the pencils • used to describe the distance Car arl r rec ecei eived m more t e than an 1 1 pen encil • David r rec ecei eived m more pen encils t than an C Car arl of the town of La Paz above • PART A A: On the n e number l line, e, r rep epresen ent t the e fraction o of t the e sea level? total number o of p pen encils t that at w was as g given en to both A Alan an an and A. Degrees Bill ill c combined. U Use the butt ttons o on the righ ight t t to in increase o or dec ecreas ase t the e number o of eq equal al s sec ections o on the e number B. Feet lin line. C. Cubic Inches PART B B. What f fraction o of the t tota tal n l number of pencils ls d did id D. Pounds Carl a and David e each r receive? J Just ustify y your a answ swer. 13
PARCC Mea eans Ti Time e Spen ent Lear arning • 8 to 9.5 hours over a year, Approximately 1 y 1.5 days ys o out o t of 180 days ys for reading, writing and math • Less than 1% of school year • REPLACES outgoing tests, not given on top of them • Items on PARCC mirror good coursework, so time on PARCC is time spent learning 14
PARCC: Qua Quality ty and Value PARCC costs $29.50 per student annually for reading, writing and math. Average a annual per-pupil s pe spending: : • Slightly less than states’ $10, $1 0,600 600 current median test Average annual costs PARCC test cost • Less than 1% of annual per-pupil spending • Less than the cost of a single textbook 15
De Devel eloped ed B By y Tea eacher ers • Thousands of teachers • Teachers, students, and across PARCC states are parents will get test data helping develop PARCC and back much more quickly review questions to ensure under PARCC, making it they yield meaningful easier to address problems information in a timely way • Every item on PARCC will be reviewed by at least 30 experts 16
Many y Advanta tage ges of of Wor orking g Toge ogeth ther er Across PARCC Sta tates es Con onsistent Exp Expectation ons • Mastering high school math should not mean two different things in two different states • Parents who move, including military families, shouldn’t have to worry about whether their child is on track Ec Econ onom omies of of S Scale ale • By banding together, states are lowering the cost of producing fair and accurate tests 17
To Learn rn Mo More re www.parcconline.org Common Core Resources http://www.pta.org/commoncore 18
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