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Wednesday, April 29, 2015

PARCC Changes Info on Its “States” Page to Encourage Other “Assessment Solutions” | deutsch29

PARCC Changes Info on Its “States” Page to Encourage Other “Assessment Solutions” | deutsch29:

PARCC Changes Info on Its “States” Page to Encourage Other “Assessment Solutions”






It seems that the PARCC consortium website has undergone a subtle change at some point between April 6, 2015, and April 15, 2015.
The change I noticed is to the PARCC consortium website page entitled, “PARCC States.”
Here is how the page used to read (April 6, 2015, archive):
PARCC: A State Look
Active PARCC Governing Board states* collectively educate more than 12 million public K-12 students. The PARCC states include some of the highest performing states in the nation, and many are on the leading edge of education reform – including a number of winning Race to the Top states.
Our Goal
These states came together through a shared commitment to develop a new way of testing – far more rigorous than in the past, far more engaging for students and far better suited to measuring student understanding, reasoning and ability to apply concepts.
By working together, the PARCC states can collectively design a more high-quality assessment that builds a pathway to college and career readiness by the end of high school, mark students’ progress toward this goal from third grade up, and provide teachers with timely information to inform instruction and provide student support.

 *In addition to the active governing board states, Pennsylvania is a “participating” state, which means that it is interested in the consortium’s activities, but has made no decision about using the PARCC assessments.
Find your state in the list to the left of this page to see the latest on your state.
Now, compare the above language to the “PARCC States makeover” that happened at some point between April 6 and April 15:
PARCC States
A hallmark of the PARCC consortium is state involvement. PARCC states make policy and test design decisions and are in control of their assessment. Classroom teachers, principals, curriculum directors and other educators, as well as experts and state education agency staff from PARCC states have actively participated in developing and implementing the PARCC assessments. Students in 13 states are participating in the 2014-2015 administration of the PARCC tests: ArkansasColoradoDistrict of ColumbiaIllinoisLouisianaMarylandMassachusetts,MississippiNew JerseyNew MexicoNew YorkOhio, and Rhode Island.
PARCC states and Parcc Inc., the nonprofit project manager for the PARCC states, works with test vendors, states and other education entities interested in offering assessment solutions that include PARCC content.
Note: New York did not administer PARCC tests in 2015, and Louisiana has no 2015 contract for Pearson-vended PARCC.