PARCC Results Coming Soon; Changes Expected

The New Jersey Department of Education is reportedly prepared to release samples of last year’s PARCC tests given to students along with actual answers to essay questions.

The samples, taken from all the versions of the test administered during the 2014-15 school year, will be released on Oct. 23 in preparation for this year’s tests, and nj.com also reports test scores will also be released on a date to be announced.

Parents and teachers have asked to see last year’s test after the controversial test was given last winter and spring to students in grades 3 through 11, according to NJ101.5.

Parents and teachers complained about class time afforded to students to take the tests and concern over the computers required.

Several parents across the state also opted their children out of taking the test, the districts enforced state rules requiring all students to take student assessment tests while others created alternate activities, according to the report.

The sample tests will be a compilation of questions and answers from versions of the exam, and they will include samples of written answers from unnamed students and how they were graded, according to nj.com.

PARCC is short for the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers. In the past, actual questions from NJ ASK and other statewide standardized tests given in New Jersey were not released, state testing administrators said.

Some PARCC critics say they are unsure how useful the test scores will be in evaluating what students have learned, according to the report

“I don’t know what these test scores will really tell us,” Wendell Steinhauer, president of the New Jersey Education Association, said earlier this month on nj.com.

The governing board that regulates the PARCC test has announced it will consolidate the exam’s two testing windows and reduce its length after the testing windows disrupted many school schedules for weeks, according to The Courier Post.