PARCC Base Scores Set; Changes Coming For This School Year

How well did students really fare on the PARCC test last spring? School districts across the state are about to find out.

But the controversy over the test already has resulted in some changes, Brick school district officials said Thursday night at the Brick Township Board of Education meeting.

For the 2015-16 school year, the PARCC (Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers) test will be just a single testing period instead of two, and the length of the tests will be shortened, according to the PARCC website. The members of the consortium also voted to reduce the number of test units.

The information everyone has been eagerly awaiting, however -- the actual scores -- will be released to school districts shortly.

“This data will give school administrators, school board members and parents important information about student learning and the effectiveness of instruction,” according to the New Jersey School Boards Association.

The Department of Education also is scheduled to present the data -- along with what it means and how it should be used -- at the Oct. 15 meeting of the Ocean County chapter of the New Jersey School Boards Association.

“How should school districts use the data? How should districts communicate the results to their parents and communities? What questions should school board members ask when analyzing the results?” are questions the session hopes to answer, according to a posting about the presentation.

Dr. Bari Erlichson, who is the chief performance officer and assistant commissioner of Data, Research, Evaluation and Reporting for the state Department of Education, will be in attendance at that meeting to explain the next steps for boards in understanding, using and communicating about PARCC data.