PARCC Answers Questions

In late March, Rick Hess, Director of Education Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute,  wrote a column in Education Week with three questions for the two consortia of states that have developed assessments aligned to the Common Core State Standards. The questions were about test reliability, in light of the following:

•  variation in testing conditions,
• use of varying testing devices (laptops, tablets, desktop) and paper vs. pencil
• the long testing window

Jeff Nellhaus, director of policy, research and design for  PARCC (Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Career) and the architect of the MCAS, Massachusetts’ highly regarded assessment, responded.   Rick Hess posted the response this week, and it can be found here: Three Answers to Rick Hess’s Questions.

Jeff’s response acknowledges that Rick has raised legitimate questions that the PARCC consortium is taking seriously.  He explains:

“The assessments have been designed to provide teachers, students, and parents important information about where students are on the road to academic success and readiness for college and careers, and provide information teachers can use to focus (or readjust) instruction to support student learning. But they will also be used in states to determine the extent to which schools and districts are improving student performance, promotion and high school graduation, and educator effectiveness.  Accordingly, the results of the assessments will need to meet a high bar for fairness and technical rigor.”

Jeff concludes his response with the assurance that PARCC is committed to providing transparent evidence, not only about whether a student is on track for postsecondary success, but also to inform future decisions about instruction and  school performance.

“Mr. Hess has raised the right questions–questions that we have been asking, researching, and working to answer for over a year. When results are released from the first PARCC assessments in September 2015, teachers, researchers, policymakers, parents, and others should be assured that the results for all students will be valid, reliable, and useful for improving instruction and for use in various accountability systems.”

MBAE supports the development of new assessments that truly measure college and career readiness.  We appreciate thoughtful questions like those raised by Rick Hess, and believe this type of substantive discussion can only improve the process and the final assessments.