March 18, 2014
JACKSON, Miss. – Approximately 86,000 students from across Mississippi and more than a million students nationwide will participate in the Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) field test beginning March 24.
The field test, which is a “test of the test,” is designed to determine whether the questions measure what they were designed to measure, and are clear and fair. It will provide a window into what schools can expect next year when the PARCC assessment is administered in spring 2015. The field test will not generate results for students, schools or districts.
In the 2014-15 school year, Mississippi will replace the Mississippi Curriculum Test, Second Edition (MCT2) in grades 3-8 with PARCC, the assessment aligned to Common Core State Standards. The PARCC test also will replace the Subject Area Test Program, Second Edition (SATP2) for English II and Algebra I. Students will continue to take current SATP2 tests in U.S. History and Science.
The field test will give test coordinators and schools a chance to practice and provide feedback regarding the administration of the PARCC assessment system. Stacy Donaldson, a high school language arts teacher with the Jackson Public School District, said the field test will serve as a “blueprint for preparation and student success.”
“Since the Mississippi English assessments are closely aligned with the PARCC assessment, Mississippi students have a fair chance of performing as well as any other child in this nation. More importantly, in the future, assessment data will inform educators on how to better plan for future instruction using the Common Core State Standards,” said Donaldson, who serves on the PARCC Item Review Committee.
In Mississippi, 513 schools in 140 districts agreed to participate in field testing. In Mississippi, the administration windows for the PARCC field test are as follows:
|
Assessment Component |
2014 Administration Dates |
|
Performance-Based Assessment (PBA) |
March 24 to April 11 |
|
End-of Year Assessment (EOY) |
May 5 to May 30 |
While the field test assessments are designed to mirror those that will be used in the first PARCC administration in 2014-15, most students participating in the field test will only take one part of the whole assessment in one content area.
Students in grades 3-8 must take the MCT2 regardless of their participation in the PARCC field test. Likewise, students enrolled in subject-area courses must take the SATP2 even when participating in the PARCC field test.
The purpose of a field test is to learn from any issues, such as technological glitches, and resolve problems before the fully operational tests are administered in 2015.
Links to Resources:
PARCC Field Test School Districts
PARCC Field Test
Media Contact:
Patrice Guilfoyle, APR
Director of Communications
601-359-3706
Jean Cook, APR
Communications Specialist
601-359-3519