1. PARCC
Fall 2015 Update
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

2. Sections in this PowerPoint
Context
Test-driving a new assessment
What are our students and educators saying about PARCC?
Reporting PARCC results from spring 2015
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

3. Context

4. Education Reform in Massachusetts
1993
McDuffy v. Secretary of Education
Education is a constitutional right
It is the state’s responsibility
The McDuffy case prompted the state legislature to pass the 1993 Massachusetts Education Reform Act.
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

5. 1993 Massachusetts Education Reform Act
Equitable school funding
High learning standards
School/ teacher accountability
Rigorous student assessments
The 1993 Education Reform Act set the stage for statewide assessments as one way to ensure all students are receiving an adequate education.
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

6. Student Assessment Results: Uses
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

7. Progress and Challenges
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

8. Increasing Expectations
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

9. The Need for a Next-Generation Assessment
Greater alignment to updated 2010 ELA & math frameworks
More emphasis on critical thinking and reasoning
Better feedback on readiness for next level
Richer data to inform instruction
Online platform
Efficiencies
More options for accommodations
Increasing use of technology
Pathway to entry level college credit
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

10. Test-driving a new assessment

11. The 2-Year PARCC “Test Drive”
2013
BESE votes on 2-year “test drive”
Spring 2014
PARCC Field testing
Fall 2014
Districts choose PARCC or MCAS
Spring 2015
Operational PARCC and MCAS testing
Fall 2015
BESE votes on November 17th whether to adopt PARCC
Spring 2016
PARCC is implemented or transition begins to another “next-gen” assessment
Today
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

12. MCAS and PARCC—Basic Differences
Subjects
ELA, math, science, alternative
ELA and math
Grades tested
3-8, 10
ELA 3-11
Math 3-11
Format
Paper only
Online and paper versions
Testing time
Untimed
Timed
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

13. Which tests were taken in Spring 2015?
Grades
Total Districts
MCAS
PARCC # %
Students
Grades 3–8
362
165
46%
207,500
194
54%
227,000
Grade 9 and/or 11
295
n/a 69
23%
22,500
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

14. Spring 2015 PARCC: Computers or Paper?
Grades
Districts
PARCC Paper-Based
PARCC Computer-Based
Mix of PARCC Computer- and Paper-Based # %
Grades 3–8
194 61
31% 97
50% 36
19%
Grade 9 and/or 11 69 19
27% 44
64% 6 9%
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

15. The PARCC/MCAS Choice in November
3. With all this information (and more) on hand, the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education will make a decision on November 17th based on what’s in the best interests of the children of Massachusetts.

16. What are our students and educators saying about PARCC?
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

17. MA Educators Helped Design PARCC
Develop Test Design
ESE staff involved in the initial test design and subsequent revisions.
Item Review
Approximately 50 Massachusetts educators and ESE staff participated in item reviews
In addition, 13 Massachusetts educators and ESE staff participated in PARCC’s Bias and Sensitivity Committees
Test Construction
After a bank of items is developed and field-tested, ESE staff participate in analysis of the data and test construction.
Scoring and Reporting
21 Massachusetts educators from elementary through higher education, along with ESE staff, attended PARCC performance level setting meetings in summer 2015.
ESE staff work closely with PARCC Inc./contractor on scoring and reporting processes
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

18. Principals think that PARCC will be similar to or better than MCAS
71% think that PARCC will be more demanding; 1% think it will be less demanding
40% think it will better assess students’ ability to think critically; 30% “about the same”
40% think it will present test material in a format relevant to today’s students; 25% “about the same”
Many reported “unsure” (~25% to 40% of respondents)
Note: from October 2014
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

19. Teachers think the quality of PARCC is higher than MCAS
72% of MA teachers think that PARCC is a higher quality assessment than MCAS
67% of MA teachers think that PARCC does extremely or very well at measuring critical thinking skills
Similar results in other states
Source: TeachPlus teacher survey
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

20. Administrators reported that students had sufficient time to finish
Percent reporting that students completed very early or on time
Computer test
Paper test
Performance-based assessment
86%
75%
End-of-year assessment
93%
81%
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

21. Students reported that the content is familiar, and they had sufficient time to finish
Students report that few or none of the questions ask about things they had not learned in school this year (82% ELA, 79% math)
Many say that the test was easier than or the same as their school work (62% ELA, 52% math)
Almost all say they finished very early or on time (92% ELA, 92% math)
A quarter said they had a technology problem during the test (24% ELA, 25% math)
Recall, student survey questions were asked only of those students taking the computer-based test.
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

22. Studies Included Study Data collection date Sample
Stand for Children principal survey (by MassInc)
October 2014
285 principals
TeachPlus teacher survey
Fall 2014
1,014 teachers, including 351 Massachusetts teachers
PARCC student operational computer-based test surveys
Spring 2015
ELA: 127,410 students
Math: 127,621 students
PARCC test administrator operational test survey
PBA
EOY
Computer
693
752
Paper
662
449
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

23. Reporting the PARCC Results from Spring 2015

24. When will PARCC results be available?
October 19th
Overall state results
Week of October 26th
District preview of embargoed student, school, and district results
Week of November 9th
Public release of school and district level results
December
Parent/guardian reports (Individual student reports)
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

25. How will results be delivered?
Press release
Files in Dropbox Central
Rosters in Edwin Analytics
Link to Excel report on ESE website
(not built into Profiles)
Printed and mailed to districts
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

26. PARCC has five achievement levels
Exceeded expectations
Level 4
Met expectations
Level 3
Approached expectations
Level 2
Partially met expectations
Level 1
Did not yet meet expectations
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

27. Our district’s PARCC data
[Use this format to plug in your data, or use print-outs/projection of the PARCC data report released publicly on ESE’s website.]
Achievement
Levels
Achievement
Summary
Growth
Level 1
Level 2
Level 3
Level 4
Level 5
Level 4/5
CPI
SGP
Your District
State
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

28. MCAS/PARCC reporting: similarities and differences
There is no achievement level called “Proficient” on PARCC, but level 4 represents the point at which students have “met expectations”
For comparing the difficulty of MCAS versus the difficulty of PARCC, we advocate comparing “Proficient” to “Levels 4 and 5”
For comparing results across years, use transitional CPI
For measuring growth, use the PARCC SGP. It can be interpreted the same way as MCAS SGP
You can compare to other schools in MA, and to other states in the PARCC consortium
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

29. How can I use the PARCC results?
Use the district, school, and student level results to identify strengths and weaknesses
Identify interventions for students
Use them as you’ve typically used MCAS scores, to the extent possible: as one piece of valuable information among many others
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

30. Instructional Resources to Improve Teaching and Learning
PARCC’s “Partnership Resource Center” includes:
Released items
Student work
Annotations from scorers on rubrics
Formative Instructional tasks (K-2)
Speaking and listening tools
Technology readiness tool
Professional learning modules
Digital library
parccresources.org
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

31. Will PARCC results be used for 2015 accountability?
Accountability levels for those districts and schools that took PARCC cannot decline (they are held harmless)
Progress and Performance Index scores (PPI) will be calculated this year for the sake of continuity and for accountability determinations in future years
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

32. Will PARCC results be used for Educator Impact Ratings?
Median Student Growth Percentiles for PARCC can be interpreted in the same way as median SGPs for MCAS
If an educator’s PARCC SGP is less than last year’s MCAS SGP, then the evaluator will not count the PARCC SGP
Always remember that SGPs, whether they are from PARCC or MCAS, are just one data point among many in the educator impact rating
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education