April Showers Bring…Test Time!

It’s that time of year again that teachers and students are devoting hours to standardized state assessments. This year, for many states, is the last year for PARCC (The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers).

You may remember filling in the bubble completely on your “Scantron”, but now most tests are done on the computer. Everything works fine as long as all of the computers are functioning, the site doesn’t crash, the internet signal is consistent, etc.

In 2009, a partnership between 48 states and the District of Columbia was developed and to implement the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and the PARCC test. This test was designed to assess higher level thinking skills (critical thinking, effective communication, problem solving) that aligned to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). The goal was to have the same test across the states to evaluate student progress towards being “college and career ready”.

As the years passed, the amount of states dropping from the association and dropping the PARCC test for another assessment grew each year. By 2016, 38 states had left the association. I work in a state that will be switching from PARCC to a new, not yet developed, state test. Current contracts with vendors for the PARCC assessment are expiring so it is time to find a new vendor to develop and administer and online test that meets the needs of each state.

Taking the PARCC test is very time consuming for the students and the teachers. The test averages 8-9 ½ hours of testing. Instruction is lost, teachers of other grade levels have to be moved to help with testing, and there are many scheduling conflicts and the availability of substitutes to cover for teachers that have been moved to help other grade levels, make for a stressful couple of weeks.

Testing is not new and has been used for over 100 years. Since the “No Child Left Behind (NCLB)” education reform in 2001, things have changed on state levels every few years. In the 16 years I have been teaching in my state, I have seen 3 different state assessments for the elementary level. Next year, we will be on to the fourth. Educators are hoping that the new test coming out next spring is shorter, less disruptive, and more useful while still assessing the higher level thinking skills.

What is your view on state assessments? If you are a parent, how does it affect your child? What type of test would you or your child prefer? If you are a teacher, how does it affect your students and your instruction? What type of test would you develop as a summative assessment?