Judging schools by PARCC scores

[Anonymous]

I'm new to the DC system and would like DCUM's opinion on judging schools based on student PARCC scores. I went to a school with top standardized test scores (different city), and had a good experience, so my inclination is to put a lot of weight on PARCC scores when considering schools for my daughter. I realize there are other aspects of schooling that are important, but in terms of academics, are there reasons to believe PARCC scores don't accurately reflect achievement?

[Anonymous]

Some people think PARCC is a very bad test and indicted little or nothing. Others think it is valuable data. Mostvprobably fall somewhere in between - it is one piece of data but not the be all end all.

All standardized tests tend to favor wealthy students So you can just as easily pick schools in the most expensive areas and get the same results.

[Anonymous]

How old is your child, OP? At some schools, due to gentrification, the scores for K-2nd are much better than the PARCC scores would have you think. Some perfectly lovely elementary schools lose high-performing students in 4th and 5th because of lack of a good middle school. So you really need to do detailed research. PARCC is only English and Math so if you care about science or social studies or arts, it will not help you. PARCC score summaries include special needs, even students with really high level IEPs, so that can bring down scores if a school has a lot of those students. Be sure to check the detailed test score data on the OSSE website to control for that. Also some schools are so small, their testing populations are not statistically significant and scores can swing a lot from year to year.

Also PARCC is not a very good test and only a few states use it anymore. I would not be surprised if the company that operates it pulls the plug in a few years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How old is your child, OP? At some schools, due to gentrification, the scores for K-2nd are much better than the PARCC scores would have you think. Some perfectly lovely elementary schools lose high-performing students in 4th and 5th because of lack of a good middle school. So you really need to do detailed research. PARCC is only English and Math so if you care about science or social studies or arts, it will not help you. PARCC score summaries include special needs, even students with really high level IEPs, so that can bring down scores if a school has a lot of those students. Be sure to check the detailed test score data on the OSSE website to control for that. Also some schools are so small, their testing populations are not statistically significant and scores can swing a lot from year to year.

Also PARCC is not a very good test and only a few states use it anymore. I would not be surprised if the company that operates it pulls the plug in a few years.

Even if pull the plug will replace it with something else, knowing DC with something easier. Not sure about Math but the ELA assessment is really not that hard and based on recent SAT scores etc, most DC high students are not college and career ready. Honestly, for most educated young people the PARCC is a good assessment. For years DC was lying about growth and progress, now at least the truth is shockingly out there for all to see.

[Anonymous]

PARCC scores are useful data, but they don't tell the whole story about a school. As one poster above noted, schools that lose students in 4th and 5th grade might have lower PARCC scores but be excellent in the lower grades. Small schools might have greater year-to-year swings because a few kids can change the percentages drastically. And schools that have lots of high SES kids generally have good PARCC scores because high SES kids tend to do well on these kind of tests, but that doesn't necessarily tell you much about the quality of the admin or teachers. On the flip side, there are amazing teachers doing fantastic work with classes that have more poor/at-risk kids, which might not show up at 4s and 5s on the PARCC. So, take the scores with a grain of salt, and drill down a bit into the data.

[Anonymous]

OP,

If I were you, I would actually look at PARCC sample tests, which are available on line. See what you think.

You might also look at E*Reka math materials.

[Anonymous]

Let me make it easy for you. Everyone wishes they were in the Wilson school pyramid which has the highest PARCC scores.

[Anonymous]

My kid nails the parcc test every time because he mastered the test taking. There are probably many kids who didn't do as well, but they are much more knowledgeable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

All standardized tests tend to favor wealthy students So you can just as easily pick schools in the most expensive areas and get the same results.

Not meaning to be pedantic but are you saying they inherently favor better off students or that better off students tend to do better (because of contextual advantages)?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

All standardized tests tend to favor wealthy students So you can just as easily pick schools in the most expensive areas and get the same results.

Not meaning to be pedantic but are you saying they inherently favor better off students or that better off students tend to do better (because of contextual advantages)?

The latter. Although there are exceptions in DC -- some of the KIPP campuses, DC Prep, Banneker off the top of my head.

[Anonymous]

I'd say you're more looking for a baseline level of PARCC performance. You want to see that the kids not at risk do pretty well; kids at risk (disability and economic) are improving and not all 1s; and improvement over time. But looking for the HIGHEST PARCC scores is kind of just looking for the richest schools (which you can probably discern from other metrics, like the neighborhood), or, more importantly, the schools that spend a lot of time teaching to the test.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid nails the parcc test every time because he mastered the test taking. There are probably many kids who didn't do as well, but they are much more knowledgeable.

You're being modest! Mastering test taking is basically a proxy for high executive functioning, processing speed, and working memory. But your point is well taken. These skills can also be taught -- and a school that spends a ton of time teaching test-taking skills will see an improvement in PARCC scores. That may be to the detriment of other types of learning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid nails the parcc test every time because he mastered the test taking. There are probably many kids who didn't do as well, but they are much more knowledgeable.

You're being modest! Mastering test taking is basically a proxy for high executive functioning, processing speed, and working memory. But your point is well taken. These skills can also be taught -- and a school that spends a ton of time teaching test-taking skills will see an improvement in PARCC scores. That may be to the detriment of other types of learning.

NP, if your kid is unfamiliar with the test language (eg third graders don't "write essays") or is not a competent typist they will not excel in the PARCC. My 99th percentile in every other test ever kid got fours even though she is three grades ahead in math and reading. If the questions are too simple kids may struggle to explain how they got the answer which is where you get points. If you just know something you have to really think about what's required. I looked at some of the sample tests and TBH I couldn't work out what some of the responses should be. Remember this is all taken on a computer with extensive typing. It's a flawed test IMO.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid nails the parcc test every time because he mastered the test taking. There are probably many kids who didn't do as well, but they are much more knowledgeable.

You're being modest! Mastering test taking is basically a proxy for high executive functioning, processing speed, and working memory. But your point is well taken. These skills can also be taught -- and a school that spends a ton of time teaching test-taking skills will see an improvement in PARCC scores. That may be to the detriment of other types of learning.

NP, if your kid is unfamiliar with the test language (eg third graders don't "write essays") or is not a competent typist they will not excel in the PARCC. My 99th percentile in every other test ever kid got fours even though she is three grades ahead in math and reading. If the questions are too simple kids may struggle to explain how they got the answer which is where you get points. If you just know something you have to really think about what's required. I looked at some of the sample tests and TBH I couldn't work out what some of the responses should be. Remember this is all taken on a computer with extensive typing. It's a flawed test IMO.

The inability to type is an issue. But everything else you wrote is literally just about test-taking strategies that can be learned/taught. The easier a child learns rules and how to apply them quickly, the better they will do on the rules of PARCC. The test may be flawed and arbitrary; but learning the rules to master it (especially if it's flawed!) is absolutely a reflection of one type of intelligence.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid nails the parcc test every time because he mastered the test taking. There are probably many kids who didn't do as well, but they are much more knowledgeable.

You're being modest! Mastering test taking is basically a proxy for high executive functioning, processing speed, and working memory. But your point is well taken. These skills can also be taught -- and a school that spends a ton of time teaching test-taking skills will see an improvement in PARCC scores. That may be to the detriment of other types of learning.

NP, if your kid is unfamiliar with the test language (eg third graders don't "write essays") or is not a competent typist they will not excel in the PARCC. My 99th percentile in every other test ever kid got fours even though she is three grades ahead in math and reading. If the questions are too simple kids may struggle to explain how they got the answer which is where you get points. If you just know something you have to really think about what's required. I looked at some of the sample tests and TBH I couldn't work out what some of the responses should be. Remember this is all taken on a computer with extensive typing. It's a flawed test IMO.

Your kid got the grade she should have.

She is at grade level for things like essay writing, meaning that's a skill she doesn't really have yet (nor should she). If she were ABOVE grade level she would have scored 5.