PARCC outline - Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers Updated: 2023

This spring, for the first time in more than 20 years, not all of the commonwealth's public school students will be taking exams under the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System.

Piloted last year in select schools and grades, new 21st-century mathematics and English language arts exams developed under the multi-state Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC), will be fully implemented by 54 percent of the state's public school districts serving students in Grades 3 through 8, starting March 16. This includes approximately 220,000 students, according to the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

In Berkshire County, the testing split is about 50-50, with 10 districts sticking with MCAS and nine moving forward with PARCC. Since PARCC tests are only available for the subjects of ELA and math, MCAS tests in the subject areas of reading, biology, and science, technology and engineering are still be used in applicable grades.

The use of PARCC and other standardized exams have spurred deep divisions over not only which tests are the most effective way to evaluate a student's readiness for the 21st century, but also whether testing costs, in terms of time, money, effort, training and resources, outweigh the benefits of having such student data.

With the two standardized testing systems being used simultaneously this year, the state will have solid data and results with which to weigh the effectiveness of the different exams.

"After this spring, we'll have a very complete set of data to compare performance," said state DESE Commissioner Mitchell Chester in a exact interview with The Eagle.

Over the past month's time, several new reports about standardized testing in Massachusetts have been released. And nationally there have been student and parent protests of the exams coming out of the multi-state PARCC consortium. According to Chester, the state is taking all feedback, reports and results into consideration, as it continues to gauge which set of exams best indicates how well students are prepared and on track for success in the future.

This fall, the state DESE expects to bring a recommendation to the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education to vote on whether the state will continue to use MCAS ELA and mathematics exams or will switch to the next generation testing system developed by the PARCC.

In February, the Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education (MBAE) and The National Center for the Improvement of Educational Assessment (The Center for Assessment) published a report called: "Educating Students for Success: A Comparison of the MCAS and PARCC Assessments as Indicators of College- and Career-Readiness."

Though no school or district performance data was published from last spring's pilot of the PARCC tests, the MBAE commissioned its report to find out whether the new tests could provide a "true measure of what is required to be ready for higher education and the workforce," according to a preface in the published report.

"Employers are very concerned that our skills gaps are symptoms of a lack of alignment to what schools are teaching and testing," said MBAE Executive Director Linda M. Noonan — who also happens to be an alumna of Pittsfield High School.

"MCAS, to no surprise, is not a college and career readiness indicator," Noonan said, and, as noted in the report, that's because it was never designed to.

"The passing score on the 10th grade MCAS test represents the minimum level of proficiency that all students have to meet to be eligible for a high school diploma," the executive summary of the MBAE study states.

The PARCC exams are designed to be aligned with the national Common Core curriculum standards, which were rolled out in the commonwealth during the 2012-13 academic year.

"What we've heard from employers in a poll we conducted about a year ago is that students need the ability to apply the knowledge they've learned," Noonan said, but businesses aren't finding that in high school and college graduates.

"[The students] can't communicate, can't solve a problem, can't manage time," she said.

When they talk about education reform, organizations like the MBAE, the state and even federal officials often cite statistics from a 2009 DESE report finding that 37 percent of the state's graduates of 2005, who went on to public colleges in Massachusetts, enrolled in at least one remedial subject during their first semester in college; 15 percent enrolled in at least two.

"There needed to be a system change," Noonan said.

But with change comes a whole new set of issues to tackle.

Locally and nationally, there's a lack of buy-in from some parents and educators when it comes to PARCC and high-stakes standardized testing in general.

At a exact North Adams School Committee meeting, members and Superintendent James Montepare expressed their frustrations with testing and other state education reform policies and mandates currently being implemented.

Montepare noted that there are cumulatively 70 days in a school year tied up with MCAS and teacher evaluations. Under the PARCC system, testing will happen twice a year, designed to get a better indication of how students perform and change throughout the school year.

The School Committee unanimously voted to lend its support to the Pioneer Valley-based Western Massachusetts Education Leaders Coalition, which is concerned with the impact of unfunded state education mandates; the validity, reliability and implementation of PARCC exams, and the amount and frequency of high stakes testing on their districts. It is estimated that the state currently spends about $35 million annually to administer MCAS exams.

In other PARCC states like Illinois, parents are protesting and working to opt-out students from the exams, though a exact editorial in the Chicago Tribune likened the opt-out movement to the anti-vaccination movement, noting that not testing kids can do more harm than good.

On March 3, the Boston-based Rennie Center for Education Research & Policy issued a report called, "Testing the Test: A Study of PARCC Field Trials in Two Districts" based on a case study examining the spring 2014 in-depth PARCC pilot in the school districts of the commonwealth's town of Burlington and city of Revere.

Though both online and print versions of the PARCC exams are available and being used by schools, the push, as a 21st-century testing system, is that the PARCC tests eventually be completely administered in online formats.

"The experiences of Burlington and Revere provide crucial information on implementation issues such as technology use and device adaptability, scheduling and staffing of test administration, and students' experience taking computer-based tests," said Rennie Center Executive Director Chad d'Entremont in a statement issued with the new report's release.

The cost and availability of technology are highlighted by the schools studied in the Rennie Center report and also were expressed by Noonan on behalf of the MBAE.

"Schools are woefully behind in use of technology," Noonan said. "Going forward, [schools] have to make good choices about technology so that it's not just about the gadgets but that they use it to enhance and not replace pencil and paper work," she said.

Noonan added that up-front investment in technology could yield long-term savings, but that, "we do need good cost numbers on PARCC."

Burlington and Revere school officials also remain concerned about the transition to an online technology-based testing system, citing factors of how test scheduling depends "almost entirely on the inventory, type and location of available devices used for test administration," whether that be tablets, desktop or laptop computers. In addition, staff need to be well-trained on how to troubleshoot technological issues and managing student data and testing results using new software that has to be installed on all the school's testing devices.

Commissioner Chester also agreed that school technology can be costly and currently is not equitably up to par in schools across the commonwealth.

"We need to provide [schools] 21st-century classrooms," he said.

Still, with a new leaders in state government and evolving statewide education agenda, Chester said he's confident that the state will be able to meet these new educational standards, from technology to testing.

"We're a state that has made education a priority during one of the greatest recessions of our time," Chester said.

"PARCC exams have the potential to be less costly than MCAS, and we're seeing more and more schools and districts able to provide access [to technology]. I think this is the future," he said.

Contact Jenn Smith at 413-496-6239.

School districts using MCAS

Adams-Cheshire

Farmington River Regional

Lanesborough

Lee

Lenox

McCann Tech

Mount Greylock

North Adams

Southern Berkshire Regional 

Williamstown

School districts using PARCC

Berkshire Hills Regional

BART Charter Public

Central Berkshire Regional

Clarksburg

Florida

Hancock

Pittsfield

Richmond

Savoy

Learning what your company can and cannot do is probably one of the most crucial insights you can achieve. Where are your resources, time and effort being wasted? Which parts of your product should you create yourself, and which should you delegate to someone that can make them better, faster or cheaper? The digital age has revolutionized serialization. In this modular world, the possibilities are endless.

Endless possibilities, however, can be intimidating. The outsourcing world is crowded with companies claiming they can give you the best service at the lowest cost. Many of them use similar catchphrases to justify their claims: a long list of solid methodologies, innovations and empowerments. After studying through all of their web pages and ogling their beautiful designs and dazzling testimonies, how do you choose the best one for you? 

As the CEO of a software outsourcing company, I think the essential concept here is that of a partnership. If you consider your outsourcing choice as a service provider, everything can go wrong. I believe you want to choose someone who has a similar philosophy to yours so you can trust them to fulfill your vision. How can you identify such a partner and create a successful relationship with them? 

Cultural Proximity

Although you’d expect to find it listed as a human resources matter or within sociological research, cultural proximity can be paramount to the success of your project. It basically stands for how like-minded you and your partner are. Do they share your worldview? Do they read the same books as you, like your favorite sport or hear the same music? Why is this important, you wonder, if all they’re going to do is code?

Many years ago, I worked as a project manager for a food-related app. We outsourced most of the interface design to India, mainly because they were the cheapest option. We started having problems halfway through the project. They chose bright-red colors for the breakfast section and dark-brown and shadowy themes for the dinner and nighttime snack segments. When we reviewed the first-draft concepts, we couldn’t put our finger on what seemed off — but the feeling of the app was just wrong and off-putting. It wasn’t until I did some research on Indian food tradition that I learned they have very heavy and sometimes spicy breakfasts and more light and mellow dinners than we do. Then I understood their association. I ended up having to make decisions about most of the design aspects myself, which demanded much more time and attention that I wanted. In summary: I understated the importance of their relationship with food, something I took for granted. If you share my nerdy interest on the subject, The Journal of International Business Studies published a fascinating study in 2013 on the significant impact of cultural proximity in the automotive industry.

Trust And Communication

This leads us to my favorite word in outsourcing: trust. In my experience, you can't make an excellent product if you don’t trust who you’re working with. Micromanaging their actions, second-guessing their approach and constantly suggesting changes, of course, could impact your design and create a weak product. The ideal thing to do is choose the best-fitting partner you can find — and then trust them. There may be many moments in which you’ll just have to take a leap of faith on their idea, but they want to do a good job as much as or more than you do. Their reputation is at stake, and no one wants to redo a task.

Trust encompasses transparency and communication. I believe you need to be very clear about your expectations, time frame, resources and any and every factor that will play a role in the product's development. If you withhold information or only say things partially, it will quickly show in the development process and things could begin to crumble. On-going communication is vital as well. Do you have doubts about something? Are you not understanding a specific stage of the process? Have there been relevant changes inside your organization or team? Communicate as quickly and clearly as possible. 

Flexibility

I’ll tell you something that can be hard to hear: Your product will never exist as you envisioned it. We can never create something exactly as we picture it in our heads. It doesn’t matter if you’re Elon Musk creating the new Tesla model or a child drawing his parents: The image we have in our minds and what we produce will probably never match exactly. You’re likely going to have to evolve from your initial concept, roll with the changes and trust that it’ll be better than what you imagined. When your outsourcing partner tells you something is not optimal or feasible, consider their feedback. In my experience, they want to do what’s best for you, and they want to create something that is beautiful and functional. Their reputation depends on it. This is why flexibility is crucial in outsourcing: There will be many changes you’ll have to adapt to and if you learn when to bend, your product will probably be better than you originally imagined.

There are many important factors to consider when choosing the right outsourcing partner for you. I could have talked about technical factors like the skill of their programmers, industry expertise or client records, but those are the obvious ones. I wanted to choose the three most important factors that, in my experience, determine success. They are very simple and in the end, the key to choosing a good partner in business, in life or in love is choosing someone that thinks like you so you can trust them; and once you do, you have to be flexible and understand that you’re building something together. With these in mind, I believe you will be walking down the right path.

Limited liability partnerships (LLPs) are a flexible legal and tax entity that allows partners to benefit from economies of scale by working together while also reducing their liability for the actions of other partners.

As with any legal entity, it is important that you check the laws in your nation (and your state) before getting too excited. In short, check with a lawyer first. The chances are good that they have firsthand experience with an LLP.

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