Maryland is replacing PARCC

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Former DCPS teacher here, the DCPS curriculum isn't all that great, in fact, I'd say the curriculum is mostly meant for students who are impoverished and behind. Unless you are in a school west of the Park (where the PTA purchases curriculum) you are being shafted. DCPS teachers are not trained to do enrichment or acceleration (two distinct categories). MD is more open and honest about their curriculum and they do an assessment every 10 years to find something better. Notice MCPS had Johns Hopkins give them an independent scathing evaluation so that they could ensure their teachers are professionally developed with the latest educational research and best practices. When has DC or VA done this? The only information we find out about DC is from the WaPo or other news sources. I'd like UVA to do an independent analysis on the following county curriculums: Arlington, Fairfax, Prince William, Loudon, and Alexandria.

We are at a school WOTP and while the PTA provides money to teachers for materials, it does not purchase curriculum. We are stuck with the same lousy curriculum everyone else is, with minimal enrichment and no acceleration.

Please don’t pretend that you don’t have Junior Greatbooks, William & Mary, Lucy Calkins, Words Their Way, etc. At least you have that opportunity that others don’t. While it’s not a true gifted education program, it is something.

We have words their way (not paid for by the pta) but none of the others you mention. This is Lafayette.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Former DCPS teacher here, the DCPS curriculum isn't all that great, in fact, I'd say the curriculum is mostly meant for students who are impoverished and behind. Unless you are in a school west of the Park (where the PTA purchases curriculum) you are being shafted. DCPS teachers are not trained to do enrichment or acceleration (two distinct categories). MD is more open and honest about their curriculum and they do an assessment every 10 years to find something better. Notice MCPS had Johns Hopkins give them an independent scathing evaluation so that they could ensure their teachers are professionally developed with the latest educational research and best practices. When has DC or VA done this? The only information we find out about DC is from the WaPo or other news sources. I'd like UVA to do an independent analysis on the following county curriculums: Arlington, Fairfax, Prince William, Loudon, and Alexandria.

We are at a school WOTP and while the PTA provides money to teachers for materials, it does not purchase curriculum. We are stuck with the same lousy curriculum everyone else is, with minimal enrichment and no acceleration.

Please don’t pretend that you don’t have Junior Greatbooks, William & Mary, Lucy Calkins, Words Their Way, etc. At least you have that opportunity that others don’t. While it’s not a true gifted education program, it is something.

We have words their way (not paid for by the pta) but none of the others you mention. This is Lafayette.

Sorry about that, I am the MCPS teacher (but pre-k DCPS parent) who wrote this. I assumed that all west of the park families pushed their admin for these programs. Maybe it's school dependent. I heard that Janney had some of these programs.

[Anonymous]

With Maryland quitting PARCC I think it is just DC and New Mexico still using the test. Are there other states or have all the others now announced plans to use different tests?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:With Maryland quitting PARCC I think it is just DC and New Mexico still using the test. Are there other states or have all the others now announced plans to use different tests?

http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/curriculum/2018/09/maryland_will_drop_the_parcc_c.html
Maryland officials will drop the PARCC exam after the 2018-19 school year, reducing the number of states administering the full exam after that year to just two: New Mexico and New Jersey, plus the District of Columbia.

The state education department confirmed the news, which was first reported by The Baltimore Sun. State board members have discussed moving away from PARCC in the last six months, a Maryland education department spokesman said, and have already put out an RFP seeking a new test vendor.

PARCC was one of the original tests created to assess students' grasp of the Common Core State Standards, the shared expectations in use in more than a dozen states, including Maryland; it is also comparatively more difficult than many of the other tests that emerged in the last decade, including other common-core tests.

Maryland's move highlights the continued move away from the idea of shared tests since 2010, when the federal government announced the seed funding for PARCC and another group offering a common-core test, the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium. (SBAC still has 12 states using its test in at least one grade level.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:With Maryland quitting PARCC I think it is just DC and New Mexico still using the test. Are there other states or have all the others now announced plans to use different tests?

http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/curriculum/2018/09/maryland_will_drop_the_parcc_c.html
Maryland officials will drop the PARCC exam after the 2018-19 school year, reducing the number of states administering the full exam after that year to just two: New Mexico and New Jersey, plus the District of Columbia.

The state education department confirmed the news, which was first reported by The Baltimore Sun. State board members have discussed moving away from PARCC in the last six months, a Maryland education department spokesman said, and have already put out an RFP seeking a new test vendor.

PARCC was one of the original tests created to assess students' grasp of the Common Core State Standards, the shared expectations in use in more than a dozen states, including Maryland; it is also comparatively more difficult than many of the other tests that emerged in the last decade, including other common-core tests.

Maryland's move highlights the continued move away from the idea of shared tests since 2010, when the federal government announced the seed funding for PARCC and another group offering a common-core test, the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium. (SBAC still has 12 states using its test in at least one grade level.)

New Jersey is also quitting PARCC:
https://www.nj.com/education/2018/07/murphy_parcc_graduation_changes.html

[Anonymous]

Why is DCPS always the last to make changes for educational best practices? I really do hope they can get it together and that there is not another scandal around the corner so that they can focus on removing the PARCC standards.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why is DCPS always the last to make changes for educational best practices? I really do hope they can get it together and that there is not another scandal around the corner so that they can focus on removing the PARCC standards.

PARCC isn't standards.

PARCC is one test that is aligned to the Common Core standards; there are others, including the SAT and ACT for high school age students, and the Smarter Balanced test.

The states that are leaving PARCC aren't abandoning the Common Core standards, they are simply going to use another test to measure students' mastery of them.

[Anonymous]

PP, I’m not asking that DCPS abandon the standards as the standards are quite well written. I’m asking that the testing PARCC format be changed. Have you ever taken a PARCC practice test? It’s illogical and requires students to know how to toggle between tiny testing windows, drag & drop, highlight, etc. Most states have recognized that PARCX test not only your child’s typing skills and computer skills informally but it formally tests your ELA/Math skills. The test should only be formally assessing ELA/MATH not informally assessing technology skills. It also stands to reason that most states have poorer districts who may not have a lot of technology equipment to purchase so that their students can practice.

Again, I stand by my previous complaint that DCPS should not continue with PARCC when everyone else has jumped ship.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP, I’m not asking that DCPS abandon the standards as the standards are quite well written. I’m asking that the testing PARCC format be changed. Have you ever taken a PARCC practice test? It’s illogical and requires students to know how to toggle between tiny testing windows, drag & drop, highlight, etc. Most states have recognized that PARCX test not only your child’s typing skills and computer skills informally but it formally tests your ELA/Math skills. The test should only be formally assessing ELA/MATH not informally assessing technology skills. It also stands to reason that most states have poorer districts who may not have a lot of technology equipment to purchase so that their students can practice.

Again, I stand by my previous complaint that DCPS should not continue with PARCC when everyone else has jumped ship.

NAEP is now done online, as is Smarter Balanced. Even the Iowa Test, which was the standardized tests I grew up taking in flhyover country in the 1970s is now given online.

College Board and ACT are thinking about moving in that direction too.

I'd rather my kids get used to this brave new world in elementary school when it is low stakes than encounter it for the first time later.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is DCPS always the last to make changes for educational best practices? I really do hope they can get it together and that there is not another scandal around the corner so that they can focus on removing the PARCC standards.

PARCC isn't standards.

PARCC is one test that is aligned to the Common Core standards; there are others, including the SAT and ACT for high school age students, and the Smarter Balanced test.

The states that are leaving PARCC aren't abandoning the Common Core standards, they are simply going to use another test to measure students' mastery of them.

The SAT and ACT are not aligned to the Common Core standards. That is a misunderstanding of what those tests are. Smarter Balanced is aligned. PARCC and Smarter Balanced were designed to measure achievement of CCSS. SAT and ACT were and are not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP, I’m not asking that DCPS abandon the standards as the standards are quite well written. I’m asking that the testing PARCC format be changed. Have you ever taken a PARCC practice test? It’s illogical and requires students to know how to toggle between tiny testing windows, drag & drop, highlight, etc. Most states have recognized that PARCX test not only your child’s typing skills and computer skills informally but it formally tests your ELA/Math skills. The test should only be formally assessing ELA/MATH not informally assessing technology skills. It also stands to reason that most states have poorer districts who may not have a lot of technology equipment to purchase so that their students can practice.

Again, I stand by my previous complaint that DCPS should not continue with PARCC when everyone else has jumped ship.

NAEP is now done online, as is Smarter Balanced. Even the Iowa Test, which was the standardized tests I grew up taking in flhyover country in the 1970s is now given online.

College Board and ACT are thinking about moving in that direction too.

I'd rather my kids get used to this brave new world in elementary school when it is low stakes than encounter it for the first time later.

PP, you clearly aren’t comprehending well. Reading skills are so fundamental. I did not advocate for paper and pencil testing as those days are over. I am advocating for a user for friendly and developmentally appropriate state assessment. No one is scared of testing but if you *truly* want your children to succeed you’d be advocating for the same thing.....instead of pushing your children into experimental foolishness.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP, I’m not asking that DCPS abandon the standards as the standards are quite well written. I’m asking that the testing PARCC format be changed. Have you ever taken a PARCC practice test? It’s illogical and requires students to know how to toggle between tiny testing windows, drag & drop, highlight, etc. Most states have recognized that PARCX test not only your child’s typing skills and computer skills informally but it formally tests your ELA/Math skills. The test should only be formally assessing ELA/MATH not informally assessing technology skills. It also stands to reason that most states have poorer districts who may not have a lot of technology equipment to purchase so that their students can practice.

Again, I stand by my previous complaint that DCPS should not continue with PARCC when everyone else has jumped ship.

NAEP is now done online, as is Smarter Balanced. Even the Iowa Test, which was the standardized tests I grew up taking in flhyover country in the 1970s is now given online.

College Board and ACT are thinking about moving in that direction too.

I'd rather my kids get used to this brave new world in elementary school when it is low stakes than encounter it for the first time later.

So how do we get DCPS to acknowledge PARCC with its weeks and weeks of testing is a failure and look for a new test? And should that test be Smarter Balanced?

PP, you clearly aren’t comprehending well. Reading skills are so fundamental. I did not advocate for paper and pencil testing as those days are over. I am advocating for a user for friendly and developmentally appropriate state assessment. No one is scared of testing but if you *truly* want your children to succeed you’d be advocating for the same thing.....instead of pushing your children into experimental foolishness.

[Anonymous]

DCPS doesn't choose the test.

OSSE does. The same OSSE that botched the Ellington residency fraud investigation, and had to pull the new science exam after several years of work (and 2 years of students taking it) because it was a dismal failure.

[Anonymous]

It is a shame that now there won't be an objective way to compare across states until the end of high school.

[Anonymous]

Smarter Balanced is losing states too. Most states are now choosing to go it alone and develop their own - which seems a ridiculous use of resources to me.

This is a good summary of the state of testing nationwide funded by the Hewlett Foundation https://education-first.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Education-First-What-Happened-To-State-Tests-Feb-2018-1.pdf