The Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education
Update on PARCC
At the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education meeting on October 21, 2014, I will provide an update on our transition to the new PARCC assessments. The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) is a multi-state consortium developing next-generation student assessments in English language arts and mathematics. We are actively engaged in the consortium's work, to ensure that the PARCC assessments meet our state's high standards. I chair the partnership governing board, and Commissioner Freeland of the Department of Higher Education co-chairs PARCC's Advisory Committee on College Readiness.
In November 2013, the Board approved a two-year timeline to "test drive" and evaluate the PARCC assessments, leading up to a decision the Board will make in the fall of 2015 on whether to sunset the MCAS English language arts and mathematics assessments for grades 3-8 and use PARCC as the state testing program for these subjects. Under the plan that the Board approved in November 2013, we will administer both the PARCC and MCAS tests in the spring of 2015, with districts having the choice of which test to administer so that we will have good comparative data. Enclosed is a summary of districts' assessment decisions for spring 2015, along with a list of districts and their decisions.
Joining us for the discussion at the Board meeting will be Deputy Commissioner Jeff Wulfson, Associate Commissioner Liz Davis, and Chris Malone, Assistant Superintendent for the Revere Public Schools, who will speak about Revere's experience with the 2014 PARCC field test.
Enclosure:
