Voices from the First Round of the PARCC Tests in New Jersey Schools
The second phase in the field tests of the online PARCC exams will start next week, with the state Department of Education inviting still more districts to take part.
New Jersey is already one of the biggest participants in the shakeout, with more than 60,000 students taking part last month. More than 1,000 schools are expected to participate next week.
During the first cycle of field tests in April, NJ Spotlight asked its readers — teachers, administrators, parents, and students themselves — to comment on the new exams. As the second round starts next week, we’re again asking those involved in the testing to share their experiences with us.
Here’s a small sampling of what we’ve been told thus far:
“Teachers and nontesting students have no access to computers and media resources during the testing days. This is getting to be a real problem, since the amount of testing days can approach 30 and administration has not indicated that there is going to be an improvement in access next year.” — teacher with students involved in the field test
“Education in the school came to a screeching halt. No other uses of technology were permitted during testing time. Students reported that the test itself was a big waste of time. Students also reported many problems with the process itself. Administrators were invisible during the process, as they were preoccupied with the tests. — teacher with students involved in the field test
“She enjoyed the experience. She said the questions were hard . . . . Learning to manage your time as you take the test seems to be the biggest challenge. — parent of a child in the field test
“It will force technology to be used in instruction, and it will raise the bar for students to learn touch-typing. Classroom instruction time will be reduced due to testing time . . . It was very frustrating getting all students logged onto the [test site]. Some got on without a hitch. Others took over an hour of trying and retrying.– administrator in a district involved in the field testing. (Mooney/NJSpotlight)
