In 2008, the High School Redesign Taskforce stated: “…the New Jersey High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA) does not measure college or work readiness…Further, New Jersey colleges and universities do not use scores from the HSPA for admissions or placement, because the test does not reflect postsecondary placement requirements.”
Recommendation: A System of Aligned Assessments “Replace HSPA with a series of end of course assessments in math… and a proficiency exam in language arts literacy that are aligned with the expectations of higher education and the workplace.” (HSRSC – 2008) Current tests should be “replaced with a system of end-of-course assessments.” (CCRT – 2012)
NEW JERSEY’S STATEWIDE ASSESSMENT PROGRAM
¡ In 2015, New Jersey adopted the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) to replace HSPA and previous assessments in elementary and middle schools in language arts and mathematics.
¡ 773,710 NJ Students took PARCC English Language Arts and Literacy Assessments (ELA/L) in Grades 3–11.
¡ 745,606 NJ Students took PARCC Mathematics Assessments in grades 3 – 8 and End of Course Assessments in Algebra I, Geometry, and Algebra II.
WHAT IS PARCC MEASURING?
A continuum of college readiness at each grade level, based on expectations for skill and knowledge acquisition ideal for annual progress toward graduating high school, ready to do college level work.
¡ Expectations are aligned to the grade-level, academic standards to which we write our curriculum and teach our students – the CCSS
¡ Other tests that measure a continuum of college readiness include: ADP, NAEP, ACT, SAT among others
PARCC Testing Presentation is now Online
Click here to view the PARCC testing presentation given at the December 7 Board meeting by Cheryl Best, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment.
Why do kids seem to do well in MS and then drop noticably in HS? I am talking about Ridgewood, not the state.
MS algebra outcomes were high for Ridgewood MS but not high scool. This was true for Geomerty and science.
10:15 am – it might be that many, many of the 11th grade students who had already taken the SATs and done well opted out of the PARCC. Perhaps this skewered the results? Most of the “high achievers” that were in my sons grades took the SATs starting in 9th or 10th grade. My son did not take the PARCC because he had already done well on the SATs and I figured he could use the extra sleep. I don’t know that the 49/414 juniors taking the PARCC were representative of that entire cohort.