Robbinsville Schools PARCC FAQ Q. What is PARCC? A. The state of New Jersey along with 12 other states and the District of Columbia have chosen Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) as the assessment to measure students’ progress against the Common Core State Standards. Federal law (No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top) requires states to assess student progress against rigorous standards. In New Jersey the administration of PARCC will replace NJASK and HSPA testing. Q. Which grades are tested? A. PARCC will be administered in grades 3 through 11. Q. How does PARCC differ from previously mandated state assessments? A. PARCC is the first online assessment administered as a state assessment. In addition, PARCC is designed to most closely align with the expectations for critical thinking and analysis demanded by the Common Core. In 2010 Robbinsville began to align its curriculum with the expectations of the Common Core. Q. How will the district use data from the PARCC assessment? A. The district hopes to use student performance data from the PARCC to evaluate the efficacy of its academic programs. Without immediate insight regarding how students will score and the quality of data received, the district does not plan to use the test results for course placement purposes. Q. When does PARCC count as a graduation requirement in New Jersey? A. At the high school level, end of course PARCC assessments (Algebra I and II, Geometry, English in grades 9, 10 and 11) are administered as students complete each course. The graduating class of 2015 will use HSPA scores as part of their graduation requirement, while classes 2016, 2017, and 2018 will use their PARCC score or their score on another competency test as part of a graduation requirement (please refer to New Jersey Department of Education guidelines at http://www.state.nj.us/education/intervention/memos/093014grad.pdf). Q. What is Robbinsville Schools’ stance on opting out of state assessments? A. Per state guidelines, there is no provision to opt-out of the PARCC assessment. Our expectation is that all Robbinsville students will participate in the mandated state assessments so that data it provides is as reflective of our community as possible. Q. What should a parent do if they do not want their child to sit for a PARCC assessment? A. If a parent refuses to permit their child to participate in PARCC testing, the child will not be compelled to take the test. Upon receipt of written notice of refusal, the child’s test will be voided per state issued guidelines and the child will be placed in an alternate setting during testing. Q. What if a student arrives at school on the day of testing and refuses to test? A. Minor children will not be permitted to refuse testing without parental consent. All minor students will be asked to take the test as administered, unless the school receives notice to the contrary from a child’s parent. Q. What will children who refuse to test do during the testing session? A. Because many teachers are required to serve as proctors during a test administration, the district cannot guarantee that students who refuse testing will receive direct instruction during the testing session. Students in grades 3 through 8 may be able to attend class with another classroom teacher, but this is not guaranteed. Otherwise students will be placed in a quiet location with a substitute teacher where they may read or complete previously assigned work. Q. Will students who refuse to test be treated poorly or scolded? A. Robbinsville Schools respects all students and their parents and will not tolerate mistreatment of students for any reason. If a student provides a refusal to test notice from parents, he / she will be removed from the testing session and placed in an alternate location with as little disruption as possible.