Wayne Students Who Refused PARCC Exam May Not Graduate

WAYNE, NJ – Nearly three-dozen township high school seniors are danger of not graduating in June because they refused to take the state’s controversial Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers last year.

Students in grades 3 through 11 took the computer-based exam, which replaced the state’s standardized tests.

PARCC scores may be used to determine a student’s eligibility to graduate, but others, including the SAT and ACT, are also used. Students’ PARCC results are not listed on high school transcripts.

In Wayne, of the roughly 10 percent of eligible students who did not take the test, 348 were in high school, said Superintendent Dr. Mark Toback.

Of these students, 33 are in danger of not graduating because they failed to perform well enough on other standardized tests to be eligible to graduate.

“There is an unintended consequence of not taking the PARCC,” Toback said. “We’re just trying to advise parents to be aware of that. Yes, you can take other tests and if you don’t pass and you don’t take the PARCC, you don’t have the PARCC on your side.”

Another 170 students gave a “minimal” effort on the test, Toback said. These were typically students who performed well on other standardized tests, but who received the minimal score on the PARCC.

Parents of students who will not be taking the PARCC need to send a letter or e-mail to their child’s principal confirming that their child won’t be taking the exam, Toback said in a letter to parents.