Proposal: 33 percent would be ‘proficient’ score on math, English tests

Illinois released preliminary results Wednesday of its PARCC tests, and they showed that fewer than 4 in 10 of its students met or exceeded grade-level or course expectations. However, parents are sure to notice, for example, that the range of students proficient on last year’s ISAT was about 25 percentage-points higher.

The scores should not be used to “shame or punish”, Smith said.

Also of note: This year is a no accountability year for PARCC, meaning there’ll be no consequences for schools or students.

But in Illinois, parents have yet receive theirs.

“I think [the standards] are fine as they are, and I’ll bring that perspective”, said Emil Carafa, a Lodi principal.

Twenty-four people make up the group given the task of following up on Gov. Chris Christie’s call to rethink the Common Core State Standards for New Jersey – and then there’s the 70 other people named to subcommittees.

“We are telling them, ‘Please, get out there and voice your opinions, ‘ ” Acerra said. Nor does the data provide scores for individual schools or districts.

The poor scores are not a surprise: Tony Smith, the Illinois schools superintendent, warned districts in advance to gird for lousy marks by their charges on the initial Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers. Unlike the old ISAT tests it replaced, PARCC asks students to apply their knowledge and demonstrate critical thinking.

The Common Core standards, which are supposed to give a picture of what students from K-12 should know, were developed by the National Governors Association in 2009.

Countywide test results for the same grades showed very little discrepancy between the scores of boys and girls, with 67 percent of boys and girls POES in English, and 48 percent of girls and 49 percent of boys POES in math.

Results are broken down by grade level, and only reflect the performance of those who took the test online.

“The changes adopted today are a necessary step toward fixing a broken system that over-weights standardized testing, diminishes teaching and learning and uses “junk science” to sort and rank teachers”, the union said in a statement after the appeals process was approved as part of emergency rules for teacher evaluations. PARCC is a new test, based on new standards.

The PARCC results are just beginning to roll out across the country.

“We’re happy to have the highest (English) score in the district”, Colfax Principal, Paul Lundberg, said.

On public radio’s “Capitol Pressroom” on Tuesday, Regents Chancellor Merryll Tisch said the board has discussed renaming the standards, once adjusted, the Empire State standards or New York’s Higher standards, to avoid the “politicization” around the term Common Core. “Does that mean you’re really ready for what’s next?”