What does parcc really mean?

[Anonymous]

What does the parcc score mean?

[Anonymous]

Nothing at all. Don't over worry about it.

[Anonymous]

The test tells you how well your student met the expectations for the grade level/course for English, math, and (if applicable) science.

It also tells you where you kid ranks compared to other kids in the same grade level/course in your school and in DC generally.

Aggregate PARCC scores give a good sense of how well the kids in DC generally and at each school are doing academically. Are they above grade level? Below grade level?

For instance, only 33.7% of DC students are grade level in English and 21.8% for math.

https://osse.dc.gov/parcc#:~:text=Students'%20PARCC%20scores%20fall%20into,Level%204%3A%20Met%20Expectations
https://osse.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/osse/page_content/attachments/Assessment%202023%20Deck_.08.24_0.pdf

[Anonymous]

Just for comparison in MCPS, 62% are grade level for reading and 13% are grade level for math. And in FCPS, 77% are grade level for reading and 84% for math.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just for comparison in MCPS, 62% are grade level for reading and 13% are grade level for math. And in FCPS, 77% are grade level for reading and 84% for math.

Not sure how useful this comparison is, as each school district is using a different test, and the within-district school-to-school variations are also large.

[Anonymous]

It is only an indicator of how well your student does on an overly rigorous assessment on grade level common core standards. When I say over rigorously, I mean the questions go far beyond the basic skills stated in the standards. The standard could be to solve a multi-step equation, and the test question could involve terms with decimal and fractional coefficients, parentheses, etc. making it the most challenging equation possible.

As a teacher, I don’t think it is a good measure of what a student knows because it doesn’t provide any way of distinguishing between the students who know the foundational skills or the basic level of a standard versus the ones who are beyond proficient.

[Anonymous]

Particularly for younger kids, the score is highly correlated with how wealthy the parents are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is only an indicator of how well your student does on an overly rigorous assessment on grade level common core standards. When I say over rigorously, I mean the questions go far beyond the basic skills stated in the standards. The standard could be to solve a multi-step equation, and the test question could involve terms with decimal and fractional coefficients, parentheses, etc. making it the most challenging equation possible.

As a teacher, I don’t think it is a good measure of what a student knows because it doesn’t provide any way of distinguishing between the students who know the foundational skills or the basic level of a standard versus the ones who are beyond proficient.

Thus marks the first time in history anyone accused DCPS of being too rigorous. Thank you. It was a tough morning in my household; I needed a laugh.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is only an indicator of how well your student does on an overly rigorous assessment on grade level common core standards. When I say over rigorously, I mean the questions go far beyond the basic skills stated in the standards. The standard could be to solve a multi-step equation, and the test question could involve terms with decimal and fractional coefficients, parentheses, etc. making it the most challenging equation possible.

As a teacher, I don’t think it is a good measure of what a student knows because it doesn’t provide any way of distinguishing between the students who know the foundational skills or the basic level of a standard versus the ones who are beyond proficient.

Thus marks the first time in history anyone accused DCPS of being too rigorous. Thank you. It was a tough morning in my household; I needed a laugh.

DP, okay. The teacher is speaking the truth though. The questions go way beyond the standard, and with the amount of content that is meant to be taught in a year, schools don't have the opportunity to focus on those higher depth of knowledge questions so that all students have the time to practice.

[Anonymous]

Parcc is doesn't test knowledge, but how well a kid can take such test. It's taken using computer and if your child is good at using one they should do quite well. Mine is a pro and it just happens that he does well at school also.
If I could ask him the same questions without multiple choice, he wouldn't do as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Parcc is doesn't test knowledge, but how well a kid can take such test. It's taken using computer and if your child is good at using one they should do quite well. Mine is a pro and it just happens that he does well at school also.
If I could ask him the same questions without multiple choice, he wouldn't do as well.

PARCC isn’t just multiple choice.

[Anonymous]

Yes, not just mult-choice: PARCC ELA includes 3 different types of writing. As best as I remember from teaching middle school, there's an informational essay where they have to compare 2 different texts; something literary based on literature where they have to write an alternate ending or something like that; and a persuasive piece based on a few different texts.

The writing pieces are HARD, especially the info-comparing one. They're not bad critical thinking skills, but it goes above what I would have taught my students in a year, and I was known as a pretty rigorous teacher. Students' scores did generally reflect my experience of their proficiency, but I think you could be a pretty smart kid and still get a 3 on that thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Particularly for younger kids, the score is highly correlated with how wealthy the parents are.

Your data for this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is only an indicator of how well your student does on an overly rigorous assessment on grade level common core standards. When I say over rigorously, I mean the questions go far beyond the basic skills stated in the standards. The standard could be to solve a multi-step equation, and the test question could involve terms with decimal and fractional coefficients, parentheses, etc. making it the most challenging equation possible.

As a teacher, I don’t think it is a good measure of what a student knows because it doesn’t provide any way of distinguishing between the students who know the foundational skills or the basic level of a standard versus the ones who are beyond proficient.

Thus marks the first time in history anyone accused DCPS of being too rigorous. Thank you. It was a tough morning in my household; I needed a laugh.

You’re not making the joke you think you’re making because DC did not make the PARCC the test. It was used nationally when it was first released and literally every other state using it dropped it before DC did because it wasn’t good.

[Anonymous]

I’m sure if these kids were doing well on PARCC, there would be a lot less complaining about what a bad test it is