PARCC Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers

What is the/a PARCC A group of states that have come together to develop high-quality student assessments linked to new, more rigorous English language arts (ELA)/literacy and mathematics standards.  ELA – Reading  Mathematics

PARCC STATES

Alignment with CCSS  PARCC assessments are aligned with the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and will measure the essential literacy and problem-solving skills that students need to be successful in college and careers. While many current state tests do not measure the ability of students to think critically and apply their knowledge, PARCC will test writing skills and critical thinking and problem-solving skills in depth. These critical thinking skills are an integral part of MCPS Curriculum 2.0

Who takes PARCC? Elementary and Middle School  Grades 3–8 will take PARCC assessments  Math  Reading High School  Algebra 1, Algebra 2, and English 10

When do students take PARCC  During the School day, starting at 9:30am on the testing days.  Proposed days for Georgian Forest PBA – Performance Based Assessment  Administered March 2 – 26 EOY - End-of-Year  Administered April 20 – May 15  Schools get to decide when to test within those windows of time. Parents will be notified of the dates by February 13 th.  Score for the initial administration (this year) will be available in December.  Future administration scores will be available at the end of the school year.

Two Parts ELA/LITERACY  PBA: Write essays drawing evidence from sources, including multimedia  EOY: Demonstrate comprehension of literary and informational texts MATHEMATICS  PBA: Solve multistep problems that address real-world situations and require reasoning  EOY: Demonstrate understanding of concepts and apply knowledge

Prepraration  Technology  Students in grade 3 – 5 have daily assess to Chromebooks and have been given the practice PARCC assessment. Students will also use a range of GOOGLE Education applications.  Curriculum  Curriculum 2.0. Since summer 2010, MCPS staff have been working to update the pre-K through Grade 12 curriculum to align with the Common Core State Standards.  Curriculum alignment in pre-K through Grade 12 English/language arts is complete.  In mathematics, curriculum alignment is complete in pre-K through Grade 5 and Algebra 1.  This year, work is under way to align the Math 6 and Geometry curriculum. Alignment work will continue next year in Math 7, Investigations in Mathematics, and Algebra 2.  In addition, Common Core literacy practices have been implemented in history/social studies, science, and all other content areas.  For more information on Curriculum 2.0, visit the MCPS website at search “Curriculum 2.0.”

MORE INFORMATION  The following websites provide additional information for parents about the PARCC assessments: PARCC website  MCPS PARCC website  PARCC practice tests  PTA Guide to New Assessments in Maryland  English/Spanish/Amharic/Chinese/French/Korean/Vietnamese  English/Español// 中文 /Français/ 한국어 / Vi ệ t  Maryland State Department of Education 

LETS TAKE THE TEST……