Dear East Side Family,
The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, or PARCC, is a multi-state project to develop a next-generation, computer-based testing program aligned to our current academic learning standards. The PARCC assessments will offer rich, performance-based tasks that will provide you with a better measure of your children's ability to write, think critically, and apply what they know. The PARCC assessments will also provide clearer signals to educators and parents about students' readiness for the next grade level and, in high school, for college and careers.
East Side will administer the PARCC Assessment in the Months of April and May. Students will take the English Language Arts 9, 10, or 11 depending on their current grade level. In math, students will take the assessment based on whether they are taking Algebra I, Geometry or Algebra II. In the weeks prior to the assessment, students will be notified of their testing locations and times by our school administration. This year, there is only one testing window instead of the two that students participated in during the initial PARCC testing last year.
In order to ensure students have full access to the learning experience, PARCC has created accessibility features and accommodations to adjust the testing format, testing conditions, and testing administration. With your involvement, the following accommodations were selected to help your child access the assessment. These accommodations are generally consistent with those provided during classroom instruction and classroom assessment. Please refer to the list below and if you have any questions or concerns, please contact your child’s Case Manager/Guidance Counselor:
- Text-to-Speech
- Screen Reader
- ASL Video
- Human Reader
- Human Signer
The PARCC Assessment provides a detailed profile of student achievement. This data will be used by teachers in developing an instructional program that will best meet the needs of their students. Teachers will be able to clearly identify those areas where students have mastered the standards and those areas where proficiency has not yet been attained.
Thank you for your continued involvement in - and support of - your child's education. If you wish to learn more about PARCC, please visit http://www.parcconline.org/.
Parent PARCC Information
The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) is a group of 18 states that worked collaboratively to develop a common set of K-12 assessments in English language arts/literacy and mathematics.
- Beginning in 2014-2015, PARCC will replace the NJASK for all students in grades 3-8. For students in grades 9-11, new end-of-course-assessments will measure student readiness at each grade level and will replace the current High School Proficiency Exam (HSPA).
- PARCC assessments will include a mix of constructed response items, performance-based tasks, and computer-enhanced test questions.
- PARCC assessments will be administered via computer, and a combination of automated scoring and human scoring will be employed.
- PARCC assessments will assess the full range of the Common Core State Standards and provide a more accurate picture of student achievement.
- PARCC assessments are designed to provide timely data during the academic year to inform instruction, interventions, and professional development.
- PARCC assessments will be comprised of two summative assessment components which include a Performance Based Assessment and an End-of-Year Summative Assessment. Both components will be computer-delivered and will include technology enhanced 21st Century question types.
- PARCC assessments will be comprised of two summative assessment components which include a Performance Based Assessment and an End-of-Year Summative Assessment. Both components will be computer-delivered and will include technology enhanced 21st Century question types.
Additional information on PARCC can be found at: