Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE) today released the latest PARCC scores and the results showed three things: overall improvement, most students in RI failed to hit target levels, and a growing gap between, de facto, "rich and poor" districts.
In Barrington, 74.5% of the students met or exceeded the score in Math and English and in Central Falls that number was just 11.3%. Central Falls school system has been managed by RIDE for decades.
In Jamestown 70% of the students met or exceeded the score in Math and English and in Providence schools, the number was 20%.
And, on and on. No where in the press release issued by RIDE did officials sound the alarm that six times the students in one community are proficient on the tests versus those in a community less than 15 miles away.
The press release announcing the results seemed obsessed with what the percentage of students who took the test over the actual performance of students. More to fuel the critics who claim RIDE is too focused on testing.
"As we continue to focus on growing the Rhode Island economy and preparing young people for the challenging careers of the 21st-century, we have to develop and support great schools and a world-class public education system," said Raimondo. "Today's PARCC results show that our scores are moving in the right direction, but I am not satisfied with the results, and we cannot afford to take our foot off the gas. We have a great deal of work ahead of us and we need to stay focused to ensure that every Rhode Island student graduates from high school ready for college and career. We all have a role to play. Our students work hard every day and our teachers and parents are committed to their success. As we start a new school year, we must all recommit to building a brighter future for every Rhode Island student."
“While all of us should be pleased with this year’s improvements in PARCC results and participation rates, we should also recognize that the majority of our students did not meet all of the learning expectations for their grade,” said Daniel P. McConaghy, Chair of the Council on Elementary and Secondary Education. “We see a positive trend this year, but we have to continue working to support and improve teaching and learning and to adopt on a broader scale some of the best practices that successful Rhode Island schools have put into action.”
Some Students Still Taking the Test on Paper
It is hard to believe RI will be able to compete when nearly a fifth took the test on paper in 2016.
According to RIDE, 81 percent of Rhode Island students took the PARCC assessments online; 19 percent took the paper-based version of PARCC. In both English and mathematics, achievement levels for Rhode Island students taking the online version were 2 percentage points higher than for those who took PARCC on paper. In English, 7 tests had higher achievement levels online, 2 tests had higher achievement levels on paper, one test was the same for both. In mathematics, 8 tests had higher scores online, 2 tests had higher scores on paper. In 2017, we expect all students to take the PARCC assessments online, except for those students needing special accommodations. RIDE offered no explanation why any student is still taking the tests on paper.
Related Slideshow: National PARCC Test Results Fall 2015
As Rhode Island gets set to release its PARCC scores on Tuesday, November 17, here is a look at coverage of the results from the other participating states.
In the 2014-15 school year, 5 million students in 11 states and the District of Columbia took the PARCC annual assessments in grades 3-11, although not all participating states have students in all grades taking the test. Students in the following states took PARCC assessments in the 2014-15 school year: Arkansas, Colorado, District of Columbia, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, and Rhode Island.
"2015 PARCC test results for high schoolers illustrate lack of rigor in old Arkansas Benchmark test," wrote the Arkansas Times, following the release of the high school scores on October 8.
On November 12, Arkansas News reported that "results showed that the percentage of students meeting academic expectations ranged from 35 percent on the seventh-grade English language arts test to 17 percent on the eighth-grade math test."
"Moreover, only 3rd grade met the 95 percent participation level that’s required. The participation rate dropped as the age group increases, dropping to 50 percent in 11th grade students.
But the scores cannot be compared to old tests because the new tests measure different concepts and skills and are the first to be aligned to the Colorado Academic Standards, said Interim Commissioner of Education Elliott Asp.
“These scores don’t provide an apples-to-apples comparison to old test scores,” Asp said. “The new tests measure different things – such as where students are in developing the critical-thinking and problem-solving skills outlined in the Colorado Academic Standards. We should all consider these scores as a new baseline from which we will measure the future success of Colorado students."
"In the new high school PARCC results released today, 27 percent of DC Public Schools (DCPS) students are proficient and on track for college and career in 10th grade English, while 12 percent of DCPS students are proficient and on track for college and career in Geometry," said DC School Department on October 27.
"In a troubling picture of performance, the vast majority of Illinois students failed to reach the high academic bar on the new state PARCC exams, meaning they weren't on track academically for the next grade level, let alone for college or careers.
Preliminary statewide results from last spring's testing, released for the first time Wednesday, reveal the extent to which students fell short of the key goal of the Common Core movement, to ultimately prepare students for higher education and the world of work."
"These was the first and perhaps last year for the tests, which were developed by the Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers. Months before the scores came out, Louisiana lawmakers decided the state would not use the complete partnership exam in 2016.
The exams tested students on national Common Core education standards, which Louisiana adopted years ago. They were entirely different from the old LEAP and iLEAP that Louisiana used, and were considered much harder. The results released Thursday are the first thorough school-by-school and system-by-system look at how students scored.
Common Core opponents have said low scores would show the national standards aren't working. But [Superintendent John] White has said low Louisiana scores are exactly why the state needs higher standards, although like other proponents, he no longer uses the politically controversial term "Common Core."
An editorial in the Baltimore Sun "embraced" the state's low scores.
"PARCC results reveal a sobering truth," wrote the editorial board on October 27. "Low scores are no reason to back away from PARCC. They are reason to embrace it."
"The Maryland State Department of Education released the first results from the state's new, Common Core-aligned standardized tests showing that less than half of Maryland students got passing grades on 10th grade English, Algebra I and Algebra II.
It would be tempting to look at those figures and join the chorus of those arguing that the exams, known as PARCC, are too hard, too time consuming and too distracting from the actual business of teaching and learning in the classroom. But the truth is, they tell us something we need to know, something that has been obscured by years of steadily rising scores on our old tests and seemingly perennial top rankings for Maryland's schools. Disturbing percentages of Maryland's high school graduates are unprepared for college or careers, and that unwelcome distinction falls much more heavily on African-Americans, Hispanics, special education students and English language learners."
Much of the discussion in Massachusetts Education circles, and especially in Worcester, this past year has been centered about the value of the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) tests. Worcester’s tests results were released with all the districts today.
Statewide, 60 percent met the standard in English and 52 percent in math. In Worcester only 41 percent met the standard in English and a woeful 29 percent for math. In Auburn, 57 percent met the standard for math and 67 percent for English.
"Nearly half of Mississippi high school students' proficiency levels dip on multi-state test," wrote GulfLive on November 5.
"Nearly half of Mississippi high school students met or exceeded expectations in English last year, while about 27 percent did so in algebra I, according to test results released Thursday.
Those are the first findings from Mississippi's only administration of a multi-state test meant to measure achievement under new academic standards.
The results are a big drop from the 2014 state tests, when 83 percent passed the previous Mississippi-only algebra test, with 76 percent rating proficient or advanced. In English, 72 percent of students passed in 2014, with 56 percent were rated proficient or advanced.
The drop was expected, though. State Superintendent Carey Wright said standards on Mississippi's old tests were too low."
"New Jersey students who spent multiple days last spring taking the new PARCC exams will not be getting their individual scores until next month.
But the state got its first clue Tuesday on how students did on the controversial test when education officials released New Jersey's statewide results in a lengthy presentation in West Trenton.
The data showed fewer than half of New Jersey students scored high enough in math or English to meet the expectations for their grade levels.
As expected, state officials cautioned PARCC -- short for the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers exams -- is new and should not be compared to previous standardized tests in New Jersey, which showed a higher percentage of students were proficient for their grade level."
"PARCC test scores for New Mexico high school students released," wrote KRQE News on October 16. "The initial results show New Mexico High Schoolers are not where they need to be in math or English."
"In algebra two, only about 17 percent of students in the state are proficient. Fewer than one percent exceeded standards.
As for English and language arts, about 45 percent of high school juniors met or exceeded expectations. Only 27 percent of freshman met that mark.
Education Secretary Hanna Skandera says the results can’t be compared to past standardized tests because the tests are completely different."
"A little more than one third of Ohio students met the higher academic standards on the new Common Core tests this year, early results from the PARCC testing coalition show.
Data shared with the state school board moments ago shows that between 35 and 40 percent of kids in most elementary and middle school grades "met expectations" or scored higher on their English and math exams, as set by officials of the 12 states still in PARCC.
The results are higher - more than 50 percent - on some of the high school exams, which were taken this year by a small number of advanced 9th graders."
