New Jersey Just Took Big Step To End PARCC

Your student may be taking his or her last PARCC test this spring. New Jersey just took a big step toward finally ending the controversial test.

The state Department of Education is forming 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," Lamont O. Repollet, the acting education commissioner, 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.

In the coming months, however, Repollet said state will be developing "the next levels of our ever-evolving assessment system," which requires a tremendous amount of collaboration and input from practitioners and experts.

"With the input of teachers, support staff, supervisors, principals, test administrators, superintendents, parents, businesses, policy makers and broader community organizations, we will determine collectively the next stage of statewide assessments," he said.

In January, Gov. Phil Murphy said he plans to follow through on his campaign promise to end the controversial PARCC test, calling it a "failed experiment."

Murphy said then 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?

Repollet said he will form an advisory group with representatives from diverse educational perspectives and "strong technical knowledge of the realities of test administration." He will also conduct a "broader listening tour" to hear from students and educators in every county.

"There are many issues to take into consideration when transitioning an assessment system, including the
amount of time needed to procure a new vendor, the fiscal and operational impact of assessments, and
continued alignment to our New Jersey Student Learning Standards," he said.

"Additionally, as state and federal law require all states to use assessments as one method to gauge and compare progress of students and student groups and to evaluate how schools support learning, we need to ensure our next generation of assessments provides a fair and accurate picture of student progress toward the mastery of the skills we expect them to achieve."

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