FEBRUARY 4, 2016 LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2016, 1:00 AM
One day after the state released dismal scores on new state tests, high schools were dealing with the reality that it could be harder or at least more complicated for their students to get a diploma in New Jersey.
Most students failed the new state tests, called PARCC, which are among about a half-dozen options that students can use to graduate — part of an overhaul that state officials unveiled in the prior school year. Some who did not meet graduation benchmarks on state exams or on other eligible tests are now scrambling to find ways to prove their readiness for graduation so they can receive their diplomas in June with their peers.
“We are concerned about the impact on students,” said Janina Kusielewicz, curriculum director for Clifton schools. “We know our students can show proficiency. We just hope they can do so, given all the changes.”
The release of statewide test scores came just one day before the state released news that the high school graduation rate had grown for the fourth consecutive year to nearly 90 percent. But those rates were calculated for years when students had to pass the state’s High School Proficiency Assessment in math and reading to graduate and most North Jersey districts had fairly high passage rates for those tests.
Education officials say the new requirements are better measures of college readiness. The change was needed, they said, because students had been graduating without basic skills they needed to succeed in college, and some had to take remedial classes before they could start their first semester.
The overhaul to graduation requirements came as thousands of students refused to take PARCC exams last spring amid criticism about test quality and overtesting. Many more students did not take the test seriously, officials said, in some cases even rushing through it or putting in a half-hearted effort because they believed it would not matter for graduation.
PARCC is a worthless, Common Core-wedded scam.