PARCC testing coming to WY
March 6, 2017
This March, Whitney Young, along with other CPS schools, will be participating in Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) testing. This will be the first year the test is administered only to third through eighth grade. In prior years, PARCC had also been administered to ninth graders, but after a lack of participation, high school testing has been cut. Because of WY’s Academic Center, our school will still be participating in PARCC. However, this year’s PARCC testing will not interfere with the high schoolers’ normal schedule.
If you’re wondering what PARCC testing is, you’re not alone. In recent years Whitney Young has had an exceptionally large amount of students opt out of taking PARCC, primarily due to a lack of understanding about what it is and why students are being asked to take it. According to Ms. Zalon, WY’s Assistant Principal and Test Coordinator, “PARCC is the new wave of assessment in a few states, Illinois being one of the predominant states. The format is different than most tests in terms of the questions… they require that students know more information and know how to use that information in order to get good scores.” More importantly, low participation rates for the PARCC test can result in financial sanctions or other punitive actions by the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE). In this financial crisis, Zalon says that she wouldn’t be surprised if the ISBE started to withhold funding. It would be the first time that funding was withheld for low student participation rates.
In an email sent through Edline in March, 2016, Assistant Principal Soto wrote, “ISBE requires that all districts and schools test at least 95% of eligible students. Last year (2015) WY tested approximately 40% of those eligible to test.” According to Whitney Young’s ISBE report card, PARCC participation increased to an average of 50% in 2016, which is much better, but still not ideal.
Realistically, it is not difficult to understand why seventh and eighth grade students would be inclined to opt-out of the test. Most of their March and April months are filled with standardized tests – some of their required tests include the NAEP, NWEA, ISA (for 8th graders), PARCC, and the algebra exit exam. This testing can be monotonous and feel like a waste of class time, but it needs to be done. It seems that students are realizing this, as participation is on the rise, but it is unlikely that WY will see a participation rate anywhere near 95% this year. That is extremely unfortunate as not only does it reflect poorly on our school, it also puts us in danger of losing funding and consideration for prestigious awards. Even more, it is disrespectful to Ms. Zalon, who spends weeks coordinating schedules for this testing.
To all seventh and eighth grade students who have the option to take PARCC in the next few weeks, please do so! It will only take a few hours of your time, but it can have a tremendous impact on the school.
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PARCC testing will be held on March 14, 15, 28, and 29. English Language Arts will be tested on the 14th and 15h, and Math will be tested on the 28th and 29th.
Correction: March 30, 2017
An earlier version of this article did not make clear that funding has previously never been withheld for low PARCC participation rates.
Joy Clendenning • Mar 9, 2017 at 11:34 pm
This article should be on the opinion page, not news.
There is so much that needs to be contested in this “news” article — I hope some WY students will do their research and respond. Meanwhile, here are some resources about refusing PARCC and kudos to all the WY students who do refuse and fight for a better use of our limited education funds in Illinois (which by the way is one of only 6 states left out of 24 originally who are still even doing PARCC) and for better use of their hours in school.
http://www.ilraiseyourhand.org/testing2016
Denise Azadeh • Mar 30, 2017 at 9:34 am
Hi Joy, thanks for your comment. I agree that this is more of an opinion than news piece, and will change its classification now that PARCC testing is over. It was put in the news category to ensure that students would see it before PARCC testing, as unfortunately not everyone scrolls down to read opinion pieces.
Cassie Creswell • Mar 9, 2017 at 8:56 pm
“This testing can be monotonous and feel like a waste of class time, but it needs to be done. It seems that students are realizing this, as participation is on the rise, but it is unlikely that WY will see a participation rate anywhere near 95% this year. That is extremely unfortunate as not only does it reflect poorly on our school, it also puts us in danger of losing funding and consideration for prestigious awards. Even more, it is disrespectful to Ms. Zalon, who spends weeks coordinating schedules for this testing.”
No school, district or state has EVER lost a penny because of low participation rates on state testing. Whitney Young has not made 95% participation for two years in a row, neither has CPS as a whole. How long will these threats of funding loss work to convince students and families to consent to a deeply flawed test.
Students and parents, please do your research:
https://morethanascorechicago.org/2016/03/28/the-truth-about-title-i-funds-and-annual-testing/
http://www.ilraiseyourhand.org/testing2016
What could Ms. Zalon be using her hours for that would have some educational value to Whitney Young students were she not forced to spend her time rearranging schedules for standardized testing?
What could IL spend the $33 million dollars that will be spent on PARCC and ISA on if federally-mandated testing were abolished?
What could CPS spend $12 million on instead of all the non-mandated standardized testing expenditures it makes each year?
Denise Azadeh • Mar 30, 2017 at 9:29 am
Hi Cassie, thanks for your comment! You bring up some great points, and I’d like to address them.
1) You are correct, neither CPS nor WY has ever had 95% student participation in PARCC, and so far there have been no punitive measures taken. I thought I made this clear in my article when I mentioned that Ms. Zalon wouldn’t be surprised if ISBE started to withhold funding. When re-reading the article I realize I never made it explicitly clear that if funding was withheld it would be a first – this is my fault, and I plan on updating the article to reflect that point.
However, just because funding has never been cut, that doesn’t mean it couldn’t be cut this year or in the future. With CPS being so underfunded, I don’t think students should be opting out under the assumption that no punitive measures will be taken. CPS needs all of the money it can get, and it would be a shame for them to lose funding for something as minute as low student participation for PARCC testing. While I don’t think that PARCC testing serves any valuable purpose, it is a necessary evil that students have to deal with. The alternative (opting out) would be to sit in the library for hours while their peers are testing, and that is an even less productive way to spend their time.
2) Mz. Zalon is a valuable resource to our school, but I cannot speak for her or what she would do with her time if she was not arranging PARCC testing.