A Letter from Dr. Fishbein on PARCC, Policies and Procedures
February 24, 2015
Dear Parent or Guardian:
Next week, we will begin the implementation of the New Jersey state-mandated PARCC assessments in our schools. Although we have been administering state-mandated assessments for decades, these particular required assessments have been subject to much debate and controversy.
Simply, all New Jersey public school districts are mandated by the State of New Jersey to administer these assessments and students are required to participate. On Monday, February 23, 2015, the Ridgewood Board of Education updated Policy #2622 – Student Assessment. (A link to the policy is provided below.)
The State of New Jersey does not recognize parents who do not permit their children to take the PARCC assessments. However, in preparation for the administration of PARCC in the Ridgewood Public Schools, we have developed an administrative process we will follow under Procedure #2622 – Student Assessment. Because this is a procedure, it is not subject to Board of Education approval. (A link to this procedure is provided below.)
Below are links to relevant FAQ information from the New Jersey School Boards Association (NJSBA) and from the New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE). In addition, significant PARCC information may be found on the Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment page of our district website at www.ridgewood.k12.nj.us. The link to the PARCC information is located on the right side of the page.
I hope you find this information to be helpful.
Sincerely yours,
Daniel Fishbein, Ed.D. Superintendent of Schools
- Click here to read the letter.
- Click here to view Policy #2622.
- Click here to view Procedure #2655.
Are we misinformed? This PARCC begins next Monday. Is it true that if you’d like your child not to take this test that a letter must be sent to the Principals Five school days prior? If Dr. Fish is sending this on Tuesday, the 24th, are the children who begin Monday not giving proper notice? Seems these start dates are being hushed so kids are duped into taking them? I see this going very badly for BOE and the schools. I hope I’m wrong? BTW, from what I’ve heard these are the worst tests ever. Everyone fails
I don’t think the timing was intentional. The storms in January resulted in a number of BoE meetings being cancelled so the adoption of new procedures was delayed. If you have a child that is taking the test on Monday (only certain grades begin on Monday), I would send a letter today to the principal and request an exemption to the 5 day requirement for notice along with your refusal to have your child participate in the test. On your last point, these tests are bad. They are poorly designed, difficult to implement and since you won’t get results until months later, provide little to no benefit to your child. I would urge you to seriously consider refusing them especially if your child is in elementary school.
OMG who cares? My kid didn’t do great on these tests but he took them anyway. If nothing else it gives them test taking experience for the SAT. I think it’s a mistake not to let them try. Just tell them do your best, your score will be private and don’t worry about it. We’ll go to the toy store afterwards. That always worked for me.
You should care, Mr. or Ms. OMG.
The concept of standardized testing as a means of evaluating student performance and progress (i.e., as compared to a predetermined academic standard), long used by K-12 schools with a minimum of agony, is not on trial here. What’s new is the blatant politicization and, for lack of a better term, “amateurization” of standardized testing, which has only recently been undertaken in the wake of the wholesale rejection and hasty, untested revision of traditional curricular content by people who have no love for your children.
You should be concerned about the possibility of rising from your slumber only to find that the intellectual battle has already been waged and lost, and the damage inflicted on the collective future of a generation of Ill-served K-12 students rendered irreversible.
Hey OMG, start to care and educate yourself. When a very bad test is presented and all these kids do poorly it will hurt more than it will help. So proceed with concern and caution. A lot of good students who have been given this test are coming away with very negative results. The results have been way too negative for anyone to want their child to take these. Talk is cheap, watch what happens. I hope for the best.