Montclair BOE Takes Stance Against PARCC Exam

Montclair, NJ – Montclair’s Board of Education has officially taken a stance against the PARCC exam.

During the Montclair Board of Education meeting on Thursday, its members approved a resolution that opposes using the PARCC test as a high school graduation requirement.

The Montclair BOE joins 14 others in New Jersey to pass a resolution in opposition to the PARCC.

Other Essex County boards of education to put their foot down on the PARCC include Livingston and Bloomfield.

• See related article: Livingston Superintendent Sticks Up for PARCC Opt-Out Movement

“As members of the Montclair District Board of Education… we are deeply concerned with the recent changes to the graduation requirements,” the resolution states.

“New Jersey is transitioning to a new assessment system with new state tests known as the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) Assessments… The New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) has replaced the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA), which had passing rates of 80-90%, with PARCC assessments that less than half of all NJ high school seniors have passed… The NJDOE failed to adequately inform students and parents about the potential consequences for graduation when the PARCC Assessments were given in the spring of 2015… Beginning with the class of 2016, the NJDOE has proposed new high school graduation requirements that rely heavily on PARCC, before the validity and reliability of those assessments have been established.”

The resolution continues:

“NJ is the only state in the nation using the new PARCC assessments as a graduation exit test… Legal issues arising from the NJDOE's graduation proposals have led to a court challenge by parents represented by the Education Law Center and the American Civil Liberties Union of NJ, and these issues could expose district boards of education to legal challenges by students denied diplomas on the basis of improperly imposed new graduation rules.”

• See related article: NJ Graduation Lawsuit Settled: 'Portfolio' Can Be Used As PARCC Substitute In 2016

The Montclair BOE resolution also:

• Urges the NJDOE to withdraw its pending graduation requirement proposals from consideration before the SBOE
• Urges the NJDOE to implement the recommendation of the Governor's College arid Career Ready Task Force, including a multi-year transition to a new assessment system that does "not establish a minimum passing score as a “graduation requirement" on the new PARCC assessments
• Urges the legislature and the SBOE to take the necessary steps to implement this recommendation and allow students to graduate during this multi-year transition period on the basis of credits earned, grade point averages, and successful completion of all attendance, service, and other local graduation requirements
• Urges that this multi-year transition to a new assessment system be used to conduct a broad public dialogue among all stakeholders to develop a new consensus around the transparent and equitable assessment policies all our students deserve
• Urges that NJ continues to provide multiple pathways to a high school diploma that include alternatives not based on standardized tests, and that it continues to respect the right of parents to make decisions about the assessment alternatives that are most appropriate for their children
• Urges that the legislature review/hold hearings on the impact of the department's proposed graduation rules on the class of 2016

Read the full resolution online here.

• See related article: PARCC Law Passes In NJ: Schools Can't Be Penalized For Opt-Outs

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