PARCC

Individual school, district and student performance on last spring’s administration of the PARCC assessment will be available shortly. Under state regulation, superintendents must report the results to boards of education within 60 days of receipt and school boards, in turn, must provide parents, students and citizens with the results.

Communicating this information to the public and using the data to benefit the educational program present challenges and opportunities. To assist local school boards and school leaders in developing strategies to review the results and communicate about them, NJSBA has produced a series of videos. These informative programs feature Dr. Bari Erlichson, assistant commissioner/chief performance officer for the New Jersey Department of Education.

New Jersey school districts administered the PARCC assessment for the first time last spring. In October, the Department of Education released the statewide results, along with actual questions and samples of student responses.

The following video segments, part of NJSBA’s “Education Matters” series, are designed to help school districts address the next steps in the process—the release and review of individual school and district PARCC data:

What is PARCC?

In this episode, Dr. Bari Erlichson discusses what PARCC measures, how it assesses student progress, and why New Jersey selected it as the state’s standardized testing program.

How does New Jersey’s school performance compare to that of other states?

This segment focuses on New Jersey’s student achievement in relation to that of other states and how education leaders plan to improve performance.

Common concerns about PARCC among teachers and educators

Educators, parents and students have expressed trepidation over new testing programs in the past. PARCC is no exception. In this segment, Dr. Erlichson responds to many of their concerns.

What parents should know about PARCC

Parents have been bombarded with information on PARCC. Often, it has been contradictory. This episode discusses what parents should know about New Jersey’s standardized testing program.

What do the PARCC results mean? What action should school boards take after receiving the results?

In this segment, Dr. Erlichson places the PARCC data into context and explains the next steps for local school districts.

For updates on the PARCC assessment, visit the New Jersey Department of Education’s website at
www.nj.gov/education/assessment/.