Sorry, NJ. Looks Like PARCC May Not Be Going Away Soon. Why?

Your student will not be taking his or her last PARCC test this spring. In fact, next year's test may not be the last either.

Acting Education Commissioner Lamont Repollet now is saying that New Jersey is committed to PARCC for the 2018-19 – and perhaps beyond, if the state Department of Education doesn't come up with an adequate replacement.

Repollet made his remarks months after NJ Gov. Phil Murphy promised to make the elimination of PARCC a high priority in his new administration, and perhaps end it soon after he was sworn in, on "day one."

Repollet also made the remarks before lawmakers in recent weeks just as his department plans to discuss future testing plans, and perhaps methods of transitioning away from the controversial test, with educators and the public across New Jersey.

Indeed, the state Department of Education is seeking input from superintendents, teachers, test administrators, parents/caregivers, students and other stakeholders about how to best transition to the next generation of statewide assessments.

Anyone willing to provide input as part of the "Statewide Assessment Collaborative" should complete and submit an online interest form by May 8 at 11:59 p.m. Locations and other details will be posted by May 11.

In testimony before Assembly and Senate lawmakers in recent weeks, Repollet even offered an opening for PARCC to continue for a while, even in a reduced form, by praising Massachusetts’ hybrid system that combined PARCC and that state’s own self-generated testing.

Repollet, according to NJ Spotlight, promised lawmakers during April budget hearings that the process will be deliberative and “we’re guided by federal and legislative statute ... There are a lot of moving parts when it comes to changing a test, such as graduation requirements or length of the assessments,” he said.

"As it currently stands, we have a contract for this year and for next year,” Repollet told Senate lawmakers two weeks ago, according to NJ Spotlight. “That covers the short term, that's through the 2019 school year for the testing."

Earlier this year, it looked like New Jersey just took a big step toward finally ending the controversial test.

The state Department of Education formemd an "advisory group" to explore new exams and ask for input from teachers, administrators, students and others across the state, according to a recent memo sent to school districts.

"The NJDOE is committed to fulfilling the governor's call to transition away from and to improve upon the current system of PARCC assessments," Repollet wrote in a March 6 letter to school districts.

"This will occur in a thoughtful, deliberative process to ensure compliance with state and federal law, smooth school and district operational transitions and, most importantly, in a manner that is most beneficial and least disruptive to the students whom we serve.

Repollet said the state will administer the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) test in the spring of 2018, as planned. He said PARCC will survive in 2018 because each statewide test-administration cycle is established a full year in advance.

Murphy has said he wants Repollet to "create new, more effective and less class time-intrusive means for measuring student assessment" than PARCC, which began four years ago and effectively replaced NJ ASK as the universal standardized student test.

The PARCC tests have been a source of controversy since they began. Many parents have chosen to have their children opt out of the test because they consider the form of testing unfair, and they've protested attempts to use it as a graduation requirement.

Read more: 2017 PARCC Scores Released For New Jersey High Schools: How Did Yours Do?

The state's largest teacher's union has been supportive of the Murphy administration's plans.

NJEA’s officers recently commended the governor and the acting commissioner for keeping a campaign promise and working to end the test.

“We are glad to know that PARCC’s days are numbered in New Jersey,” said NJEA President Marie Blistan. “From the beginning it was a poorly planned, poorly executed fiasco that undermined real teaching and learning in New Jersey’s classrooms. No one understands better than educators what our students need in order to succeed. I’m very pleased that we will be involved in developing a better, smarter assessment system that benefits students and allows educators to do our jobs more effectively.”

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