Big PARCC Decision: NJ Votes To Kill 2 Standardized Tests

New Jersey officials have voted to get rid of two standardized tests that have been the subject of controversy since PARCC was introduced five years ago.

The state Board of Education voted Monday to get rid of two standardized tests for 10th graders, effectively setting the stage to eliminate the assessment tests in English and math for sophomores in four years.

Public school students in grades 3 through 9 will still be required to take the New Jersey Student Learning Assessments, which were formerly called "PARCC."

"The proposed amendments reflected the (Education) Department’s transition to the next generation of state assessments," Education Commissioner Lamont O. Repollet said.

The board voted 12-1 at a meeting in Trenton to eliminate the 10th grade state assessment tests. If finalized, the changes would start with the Class of 2023, so this year’s 10th graders would be the last to be tested.

The board's vote was actually a first step. There will be 60-day public comment period before a final vote in February.

Eleventh graders also will still have to take a proficiency test or complete an equivalent assessment in order to graduate from high school.

The vote to kill the 10th grade tests for about 100,000 students each year came after weeks of disagreement among state board members, according to nj.com. The state had until early November to approve a new testing plan before the old rules expired.

There was still concern about the number of tests, and the fact that 11th graders have to take assessments during the same year they take the SAT and ACT tests.

“This is the best we can do within the circumstances that has been presented to us ... This is not the best we can do for the students of New Jersey," Andrew Mulvihill, vice president of the state Board of Education, the sole vote against moving the proposal forward, told nj.com.

The changes still won't please many others, either. Gov. Phil Murphy promised to work to get rid of PARCC on "day one" of his administration. But in September, state officials devised yet another new timeline to junk the controversial standardized assessment.

The Department of Education, which has struggled to find a replacement, provided an updated timeline on the "transition to the next generation assessments" that ultimately led to the vote to eliminate the 10th grade tests on Monday.

"The department aims to maintain high academic standards, support districts to provide
students with an equitable access to a high-quality education, and ensure the state assessment system evolves incrementally and fairly," the DOE said.

What were described as "major milestones" of the department's PARCC-replacement timeline include:

• 2019-20: NJDOE issues requests for proposals for the new generation of assessments
• 2021-22: Field test the next generation of assessments in grades 3-9, and administer the 11th grade graduation assessment (by court order, the NJDOE is required to administer an 11th grade graduation assessment for the Class of 2023 and beyond).
• 2022-23: Full implementation of the next generation of assessments.

The update to the state Board of Education came with the understanding that elements of the plan may need to be adjusted because of "variables throughout the procurement and implementation process," the DOE said.

As implementation progresses, the DOE will continue to seek the input of more than 2,000 students, teachers and school officials, along with working groups that included educators from 151 districts in all 21 counties, according the the department.

The PARCC tests have been a source of controversy since they began. Many parents have chosen to have their children opt out of the test because they consider the form of testing unfair, and they've protested attempts to use it as a graduation requirement.

David Hespe, New Jersey's former commissioner of education, said five years ago that more than half of New Jersey's kids are not ready for college based on the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers test.

In January 2018, Murphy said he planned to follow through on his campaign promise to end the controversial PARCC test, and he took the first step in his plans to do so.

Murphy asked Repollet to "end the failed experiment that has been PARCC testing." Murphy said he wanted Repollet to "create new, more effective and less class time-intrusive means for measuring student assessment" than PARCC, which effectively replaced NJ ASK as the universal standardized student test.

Murphy words echoed what he said on the campaign trail, when he told NJEA leaders during a conference that "I will eliminate PARCC." He even suggested on the campaign trail that, perhaps, there will be no replacement, saying he wants to return to "student-centered" teaching.