Norfolk Aggie Principal's Blog

Tonight at the Parent Network meeting, the new PARCC test was discussed. Here is some information about the PARCC test.

Published on PARCC (http://www.parcconline.org)

About PARCC

The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) is a group of states working together to develop a set of assessments that measure whether students are on track to be successful in college and their careers. These high quality, computer-based K–12 assessments in Mathematics and English Language Arts/Literacy 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 PARCC assessments will be ready for states to administer during the 2014-15 school year.

Our Belief

PARCC is based on the core belief that assessment should work as a tool for enhancing teaching and learning. Because the assessments are aligned with the new, more rigorous Common Core State Standards (CCSS) [1], they ensure that every child is on a path to college and career readiness by measuring what students should know at each grade level. They will also provide parents and teachers with timely information to identify students who may be falling behind and need extra help. Learn more about PARCC in our PARCC FAQs [2].

PARCC States

PARCC is made up of: Arkansas [3], Colorado [4], District of Columbia [5], Illinois [6], Louisiana [7], Maryland[8], Massachusetts [9], Mississippi [10], New Jersey [11], New Mexico [12], New York [13], Ohio [14], and Rhode Island [15]. The states in PARCC educate millions of elementary, middle and high school students across the country. In addition, Pennsylvania [16] is a "participating state." Learn more about the PARCC states[17].

Resources

PARCC has produced a variety of resources [18] for educators, parents, and the public to learn about the assessment system's history and development.

Source URL: http://www.parcconline.org/about-parcc

Links:
[1] http://www.ccsso.org/
[2] http://www.parcconline.org/sites/parcc/files/PARCCFAQ_9-18-2013.pdf
[9] http://www.parcconline.org/massachusetts
[17] http://www.parcconline.org/parcc-states
[18] http://www.parcconline.org/resources

Sample Questions

PARCC Task Prototypes and Sample Items

Try out sample test questions in their intended environment [1].

The primary purpose of sharing samples of PARCC items is to provide information about the assessment system and support educators as they transition to the Common Core State Standards and the PARCC tests. The samples presented here are designed to shine a light on important elements of the CCSS and to show how critical content in the standards may appear in PARCC’s next-generation, technology-based assessments.

Samples can be found by clicking on each grade level on the left menu. There are two types of samples found on these pages:

• Task Prototypes, which were released in August 2012; and,

• Sample Items, which were released beginning on August 15, 2013

The task prototypes were created to provide viable early models to guide item development. The sample items represent the current state of PARCC item development and provide users a snapshot of what the 2014-2015 assessments will look like.

The new sample items are first presented in PDF format to emphasize a focus on the content of the items. Later in 2013, the new sample items will be re-released as technology-based items that students, educators, and parents can use to better understand the content and the technologies PARCC will be using.

Learn more about:

• Task Prototypes and New Sample Items in English language arts/literacy [2]

• Task Prototypes and New Sample Items in Mathematics [3]

PARCC ELA/Literacy Rubrics

The PARCC ELA/literacy Rubrics have been updated to reflect lessons learned from the extensive PARCC field test. Updates include:

Score points for the Conventions trait were reduced from 4 score points to 3 points. Educators saw that there was not enough difference between student responses to have both a score point of 4 and a score point of 3 and apply the rubric with reliability.
PARCC created a separate rubric for scoring of narrative writing. The narrative criteria for Written Expression was separated so that both teachers and scorers could easily apply the correct criteria.
PARCC added an additional bullet for score point 1 in Written Expression. During the review of the field test items, educators saw responses that were well-developed and text-based, but not clearly tied to the prompt. Language was added to score point 1 to recognize the writing ability demonstrated in this type of response.
While the criteria themselves did not change, the descriptors for some score points were refined to clearly delineate the lines between score points and to ensure clarity of the criteria.

Use of sample and practice test items

This website displays sample test items and practice test items, located on this page, and also here [4], here [2], and here [3] for use by educators, parents, authors, the public, textbook publishers, and others to help raise awareness of the PARCC assessments and to help prepare educators and students. No charge is imposed for the use of the items that are identified as samples. The widespread use and sharing of these materials is encouraged, provided that the source of the materials is acknowledged in any reproduction of the samples.

Source URL: http://www.parcconline.org/samples/item-task-prototypes

Links:
[1] http://www.parcconline.org/computer-based-samples
[2] http://www.parcconline.org/samples/ELA
[3] http://www.parcconline.org/samples/math
[4] http://practice.parcc.testnav.com/#

High School - Mathematics

Summative Assessments at the High School Level

Task Types
Type I: Tasks assessing concepts, skills and procedures	Type II: Tasks assessing expressing mathematical reasoning	Type III: Tasks assessing modeling / applications
Type I tasks include a balance of conceptual understanding, fluency, and application. These tasks can involve any or all mathematical practice standards. Type I tasks will be machine scorable and will include innovative, computer-based formats. Type I tasks will appear on the End of Year and Performance Based Assessment components and generate evidence for measuring major, additional, and supporting content with connections to the mathematical practices as indicated in thePARCC Model Content Frameworks for Mathematics [1].*	Type II tasks call for written arguments/justifications, critique of reasoning, or precision in mathematical statements (MP. 3, 6). These tasks can also involve other mathematical practice standards. Type II tasks may include a mix of innovative, machine scored and hand scored responses. Type II tasks will be included on the Performance Based Assessment component and generate evidence for measuring mathematical reasoning with connections to content.	Type III tasks call for modeling/application in a real-world context or scenario (MP.4) and can also involve other mathematical practice standards. Type III tasks may include a mix of innovative, machine scored and hand scored responses. Type III tasks will be included on the Performance Based Assessment component and generate evidence for measuring mathematical modeling/application with connections to content.
Sample Tasks	Sample Tasks	Sample Tasks
High School Functions [2] High School (Seeing Structure in a Quadratic Equation) [3] High School (Seeing Structure in an Equation) [4] Algebra I/Math II: Picture Frame [5] (New!) Algebra I: Myla's Swimming Pool [6] Algebra II/Math III: Green Tea Observational Study [7]	Algebra II/Math III: Graphs of Functions [8] (New!) Algebra I/Math II: Michelle’s Conjectures [9] Geometry/Math III:Geometric Construction Connection [10]	Algebra I/Math I: Popcorn Inventory [11] (New!) Algebra I/Math I: Brett's Race [12] (New!) Algebra I/Math II: Mini-Golf Prices [13] (New!) Algebra II/Math III:Temperature Changes [14]

*PARCC’s Model Content Frameworks for Mathematics designate clusters as Major, Additional andSupporting for each grade and course. As discussed in the Model Content Frameworks, some clusters that are not major emphases in themselves are designed to support and strengthen areas of major emphasis, while other clusters that may not connect tightly or explicitly to the major work of the grade would fairly be called additional.

Source URL: http://www.parcconline.org/samples/mathematics/high-school-mathematics

Links:
[1] http://www.parcconline.org/mcf/mathematics/parcc-model-content-frameworks-browser
[2] http://www.parcconline.org/samples/mathematics/high-school-functions
[3] http://www.parcconline.org/samples/mathematics/high-school-seeing-structure-quadratic-equation
[4] http://www.parcconline.org/samples/mathematics/high-school-seeing-structure-equation
[5] http://www.parcconline.org/sites/parcc/files/HS-Alg1Math2PictureFrame.pdf
[6] http://www.parcconline.org/sites/parcc/files/PARCC_SampleItems_Mathematics_HSAlgIMylaPool_081913_Final.pdf
[7] http://www.parcconline.org/sites/parcc/files/PARCC_SampleItems_Mathematics_HSAlgIIMathIIIGreenTeaStudy_081913_Final_0.pdf
[8] http://www.parcconline.org/sites/parcc/files/HighSchoolAlg2Math3-GraphsofFunctions.pdf
[9] http://www.parcconline.org/sites/parcc/files/PARCC_SampleItems_Mathematics_HSAlgIMathIIMichelleConjecture_081913_Final_0.pdf
[10] http://www.parcconline.org/sites/parcc/files/PARCC_SampleItems_Mathematics_HSGeoMathIIIGeometricConnection_081913_Final_0.pdf
[11] http://www.parcconline.org/sites/parcc/files/HSAlg1Math1PopcornInventory.pdf
[12] http://www.parcconline.org/sites/parcc/files/BRHSSampleItem.pdf
[13] http://www.parcconline.org/sites/parcc/files/HSAlg1Math2MiniGolfPrices.pdf
[14] http://www.parcconline.org/sites/parcc/files/PARCC_SampleItems_Mathematics_HSAlgIIMathIIITemperatureChange_081913_Final_0.pdf