Monday, April 7, 2014
A group of West Fork High School Algebra II students said the new standardized test tied to Common Core State Standards was harder than they expected.
The students were among the first to take an online test by the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Career. The same test in Algebra II is being administered in 17 states this spring as field testing begins for the new assessment.
At A Glance
What Is PARCC?
Arkansas is a member of the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, or PARCC, working with a group of 24 states to develop a set of assessments that measure whether students are on track to be successful in college and their careers. These are computer-based assessments in mathematics and English language arts and literacy to give teachers, schools, students, and parents better information whether students are on track in their learning and for success after high school, and tools to help teachers customize learning to meet student needs. The tests are being field tested to nearly a million children nationwide in the coming weeks. The PARCC assessments will be ready for states to administer during the 2014-15 school year.
Source: www.parcconline.org…
"It was hard," said Conner Johnson, a 16-year-old junior. He had to spend about 15 minutes trying to figure out how to backspace.
"The questions were unclear in how they were asked," said Garren Leichner, 16. "I don't think I did that great because I didn't understand the questions."
Test security imposed by the partnership prevented the students from discussing the content of the questions. They said they did not think their difficulties had anything to do with missing so much class time. West Fork missed 21 class days because of inclement weather and students made up nine days before the test.
"It wasn't anything we had learned," said Dillon Hedges, 16.
Lester Long, curriculum coordinator in West Fork, said the Common Core State Standards and the accompanying assessment has raised the bar for student learning.
"We need to be finding ways to use the interactive piece of the test so it is less challenging," Long said. Interactive tools such as highlighting or a calculator are built in to the program. The district is exploring ways of integrating more computer technology into instruction that will help students, Long said.
"This is a stimulus to change what instruction looks like," he added.
Amanda Bruce, the Algebra II teacher at West Fork, said, "I feel like it went well. This was the first time students took a state standardized test online." Test security prohibits her from looking at any questions. Her job was to monitor the testing room and field technical questions, she said.
She added that missing a month of school probably had a greater impact on the testing than students said, mainly because more material would have been covered in class.
The schools are expected to administer the tests in math and English language arts and literacy during the specific time periods before the end of the school year.
Sarah McKenzie, Fayetteville's director of assessment, research and accountability, said the test is divided into two parts: performance based and end-of-year. The performance is to be given when students complete 75 percent of the school year.
"This is practice for testing the competency, validity and reliability of the test," McKenzie said.
The partnership and the Arkansas Department of Education randomly selected schools to take the tests online or with pencil and paper.
Karen Morton, assessment and data management director in the Bentonville School District, said about 1,000 students in 12 Bentonville schools, involving grades three through 11, will participate in the field testing.
About 500 students in eight schools will be tested in Fayetteville, McKenzie said.
The field testing will involve about 1,500 students in 10 elementary schools, four middle schools and two high schools in Rogers, said Ashley Kelley Siwiec, district spokesman.
Springdale has the largest group of participants with about 1,800 students at 24 schools, said Clay Hendrix, an assistant superintendent.
About half of the students in Springdale will take the online version and the other half with paper and pencil. Hendrix said that will give the partnership some statistical comparison on which format students performed better.
Districts and the state Education Department will not receive individual student scores.
Standardized test results frequently are used from one year to the next as a guide for teachers to emphasize areas of instruction where students may need more work.
McKenzie and Morton agreed not receiving test scores won't necessarily be a bad thing because they will have sample tests available to help students prepare for the statewide tests next school year.
"We're always involved in field testing," Morton said. "It's part of the test preparation process."
NW News on 04/07/2014