ISBE responds to concerns about PARCC assessments

As reported in last week’s District 88 newsletter, District 88 and surrounding high school districts have expressed concern with the Illinois State Board of Education’s (ISBE) new Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) assessments, which are intended to align with the new Common Core State Standards and are planned to be implemented in the 2014-15 school year.

The districts’ main concerns are:

  • The potential loss of the ACT, which has value to students for college entry
  • Excessive hours and days required to administer the assessments for grades 9, 10 and 11, as well as testing interfering with other tests such as Advanced Placement (AP)/college-level testing
  • The inability of many districts to handle the technology demands of the assessments

On March 11, State Superintendent Dr. Chris Koch sent a letter in response to those concerns. According to Koch, there are four driving principles that have guided the state’s work in assessment, and he believes PARCC meets that criteria. The four principles are:

  • The assessments must be aligned to the Illinois learning standards, which include an assessment of higher-order thinking skills
  • The assessments should not only be for accountability, but to guide instruction and demonstrate growth
  • The assessment results should be available as quickly as possible
  • There should not be a disconnect between assessments used at the elementary and high school levels, as has been the case with ISAT/PSAE

Koch responded to each concern as follows.

The potential loss of the ACT, which has value to students for college entry
The value (of PARCC) for students is clear: through the PARCC assessments, students and families will receive feedback indicating whether a student is on track for success in college entry-level, credit-bearing courses. Institutions of higher education in Illinois have been hard at work, creating teams of key postsecondary faculty and administrate leaders, to ensure the results generated by PARCC will be useful placement indicators on their respective campuses.

Excessive hours and days required to administer the assessments for grades 9, 10 and 11, as well as testing interfering with other tests such as Advanced Placement (AP)/college-level testing
Testing time will vary across grade levels, with the maximum time at the high school level of about nine hours for the Performance-Based assessment (PBA) and End-of-Year (EOY) assessment components combined. Importantly, the test will be broken up into multiple sessions; no student will take the test from start to finish in one day. A wide window for the PBA and EOY assessments was established to provide districts with flexibility to schedule the assessments and to minimize testing burden and conflicts with other exams.

The inability of many districts to handle the technology demands of the assessment
The reality is some schools are not yet equipped with enough devices to provide all students with a computer-based assessment. Thus, PARCC will offer a paper and pencil version of the assessment, which states may choose to make available to schools and districts that need it.

According to Koch, “For the reasons above – and because Illinois educators have been at the table designing the test and reviewing the more than 10,000 items developed to date – I believe the PARCC assessment system is the best fit for Illinois schools. PARCC is aligned with the standards taught in Illinois classrooms and will provide students, families, schools and colleges valuable feedback about a student’s college and career readiness. This feedback will provide time for necessary interventions to help students avoid costly remedial coursework, which negatively impacts college graduation rates, and improve opportunities for partnership between K-12 and postsecondary institutions. Additionally, PARCC assessments are designed with flexibility to work with school scheduling and technology needs.”

District 88 and surrounding high school districts still strongly believe alternatives to the PARCC assessments are needed, and the districts will continue to work with Koch to develop the best assessment system for students. Regardless of the final outcome, Addison Trail and Willowbrook will continue to have the highest expectations for students and will provide rigorous courses and supports to prepare them for success in any path they choose.