HOW IS AZ IMPLEMENTING THE PARTNERSHIP FOR ASSESSMENT OF READINESS FOR COLLEGE AND CAREERS (PARCC)?
From the National PARCC website, "PARCC is a 22-state consortium working together to develop next-generation K-12 assessments in English and math." PARCC claims the benefits to their assessments are:
- "Students will know if they are on track to graduate 'ready for college and careers';
- Teachers will have regular results available to guide learning and instruction;
- Parents will have clear and timely information about the progress of their children;
- States will have valid results that are comparable across the member states; and
- The nation is already based on a 'college-and career-ready' [system], and the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) are 'internationally-benchmarked.'"
Are the Common Core State Standards Internationally Benchmarked? Visit our "International Benchmarks" website link and you will find out that in fact that the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) are not internationally benchmarked!
WHAT DOES THE ARIZONA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION SAY ABOUT PARCC?
From the AZED PARCC website: "The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) is a consortium of states 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. These new K-12 assessments will build a pathway to college and career readiness by the end of high school, mark students' progress toward this goal from 3rd grade up, and provide teachers with timely information to inform instruction and provide student support. The PARCC assessments will be ready for Arizona to administer during the 2014-2015 school year."
As mentioned on the Why Did AZ Join? webpage, Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSSI) will be implemented in three phases:
PHASE I- Implement the CC standards at the AZ school district level, and
train teachers on "how to teach" the standards. Implementing new curriculum
to support the CC standards goes right along with this at the district
level. Read more about the
"AZ Common Core Standards Professional
Development" here.
PHASE II- Partnership Assessment for College & Career Readiness
(PARCC)- Developing the AZ test which is still in progress. This PARCC Assessment will
replace the Arizona's Instrument to Measure Standards (AIMS) test. The
AIMS test will no longer be given after the 2012-2013 school year based on
HB2425 where the AIMS test was "struck out" of Title 15 of the AZ
Constitution with Senator Rich Crandall's Amendment. Will
the PARCC test be a requirement to graduate? That is unknown because the AZ House Bill for the "AIMS-to-PARCC transition" this
legislative session died in the AZ Senate:
(HB2047). However, PARRC sample tests are being developed by
the AZED which they did previously for AIMS. AZED is working with a
consortium of 22 other PARRC states and they are obtaining input from various
representatives from the school
districts as well. Then all of these PARRC members will develop these sample PARCC tests. Are we
teaching-to-the-test which was the major failure of AIMS? Only time will
tell when these PARRC sample tests become available!
PHASE III- PARCC testing of our students and sharing the data with
the Federal government and other states. This phase has not begun
yet, but yes, data on our students will be shared with the Federal
government! What ever happened to
the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act
(FERPA)? Read more in the PARRC testing web page
here.
AZ PARCC- WHAT'S NEW?
For Arizona PARCC updates visit the AZED PARCC- What's New? webpage.