The PARCC Test

By Sam Halpern

The PARCC test was introduced in the 2014-2015 school year as a revolutionary test to measure student’s learning progress in the state of New Jersey. Unlike its predecessor (the NJASK), the PARCC test is administered on the computer. However, many schools can not afford sufficient computers for students to take the test on. This setback, along with several others, has been detrimental to the test’s success.

This test has been altered many times, attempting to make a more effective test that will measure a student’s readiness for college. It will also help compare different high schools to one another. At first, the test was designed with two sections that were to be taken months apart. But, one of those was soon repealed, causing the test to be taken only once a year. Additionally, the time it takes to complete a single testing part, along with the number of subsections, has been reduced. This coming year there will be several new changes to the test as well. The majority of these changes will only be minor to the layout. Moreover, a few of the separate tools have been compressed into one category, making the site look cleaner and easier to navigate.

Last year, Wayne Valley had the 67th highest average test scores on the PARCC out of 399 New Jersey high schools. We moved a tremendous 136 places up from last year, earning a spot in the top 20%. Wayne Township Public Schools, as a whole, had the 137th highest test scores out of 609 different NJ school districts. These specific rankings take an average of the math and language arts scores on the PARCC into account. Wayne Valley High School, and the Wayne Schools Township as a whole, have greatly improved their PARCC test scores since the introduction of the test, and will hopefully continue to improve.

Source for PARCC changes:

http://www.parcconline.org/images/Whats-New-AFA-Manual-5th-Edition_2016-08-02_tagged.pdf

Source for PARCC ranking: https://www.schooldigger.com/go/NJ/schoolrank.aspx?level=3&findschool=341728004964