In a presentation Wednesday to a joint meeting of education subcommittees from both the Maryland House and Senate, the state Department of Education outlined its expectations for the test results and areas of improvement for coming years of testing.
The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, commonly referred to as the PARCC, was administered for the first time last spring in 11 participating states and the District of Columbia. The controversial exam aligns with the Common Core State Standards and some are concerned about educators teaching to the test and the amount of classroom time spent testing and preparing for it.
Cheryl Bost, vice president of the Maryland State Education Association, said there are concerns about the disruption testing causes to classroom schedules and student learning, from the amount of time spent both preparing for and taking the exams.
Jack Smith, the interim state superintendent of schools for the Department of Education, said that the PARCC results will include itemized student reports with section subscores and individual question analysis. Breaking down an individual’s score will help show educators areas where students need to improve and year-over-year growth.
Using the results, teachers can see how students performed, question by question, and show a student’s area of deficiency, according to Bill Reinhard, a spokesman with the Maryland Department of Education. Past state tests had less detailed results, he said.
The PARCC exam tests students more in depth than previous state tests, and asks them to take information and analyze it before answering questions.
During PARCC testing this year, 575,000 students participated, with 80 percent taking the test online, which saved the state about $2.2 million, according to Henry Johnson, acting chief academic officer for the state Department of Education.
In spring 2016, during the second year of testing, schools will administer the PARCC in one testing window. During the first year of testing, students had two testing windows, with one in March and the other in May, Johnson said.
Depending on their grade, students will spend between one and two hours less taking the test, according to Reinhard.
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