PARCC Presentation for Parents of the
Woodbridge Township School District
January 21 , 2015

• Sarah Cice
– Supervisor of English 6-12
– District Test Coordinator
– Sarah.cice@woodbridge.k12.nj.us
• Christopher Callahan
– Supervisor of Technology
– PARCC Technology Coordinator
– Christopher.callahan@woodbridge.k12.nj.us
• Catherine Wehrle
– Supervisor of Math K-12
– Catherine.wehrle@woodbridge.k12.nj.us

Middle School
• PBA—March 2, 2015—March 27, 2015
• EOY—April 27, 2015—May 22, 2015
High School
• PBA—March 23, 2015—May 1, 2015
• EOY—May 8, 2015—June 5, 2015

• The Common Core State Standards in English Language
Arts/Literacy and Mathematics were created by educators around the nation.
• Nearly every state in the nation is working individually and collectively to improve its instruction and assessments to ensure students graduate with the knowledge and skills most demanded by college and careers.
• The PARCC assessment rewards this commitment by providing an assessment focused on the instructional shifts and academic skills needed to prepare all students for college and career readiness in the 21 st century.

• The new standards are designed to help students of all ability levels achieve.
• They focus on problem solving and critical thinking skills—not just memorizing answers.
• How students learn is just as important as what they learn; the
CCSS support different learning styles and educational levels.

● Common assessments aligned with the Common Core Standards
● Educational Testing Services (ETS) is the test developer
● Pearson is the assessment provider
● Content will include English Language Arts and Mathematics

1.
Determine whether students are college and career ready or on track
2.
Connect to the Common Core State Standards
3.
Measure the full range of student performance, including
that of high- and low-achieving students
4.
Provide educators data throughout the year to inform instruction
5.
Create innovative 21st century, technology-based assessments
6.
Be affordable and sustainable

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• Computer Based Test
• Students tested twice per year
• Faster results
• Comprehensive Critical
Thinking and Problem Solving
Tasks
• Assess whether students are on track for success in college and careers

• Readiness Surveys
• Preparing the infrastructure: wireless campus, bandwidth
• Selecting a device for instruction and assessment
• Field testing as a pilot school district for PARCC administration

• Use technology to determine student understanding in authentic ways
– Drag and drop
– Shade text
– Cut and paste
– Move items
– Use of math tools
– Online calculators (6-11)
– Graphing tools
– Type written responses in ELA and Math

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• Performance Based Assessment (PBA)
– Occurs after approximately 75% of year (March)
– Language Arts—focus on writing effectively when analyzing text
– Math—focus on solving multi-step problems by applying skills and conceptual understanding
• End of Year Assessment (EOY)
– Occurs after approximately 90% of year (May)
– Language Arts—focus on reading comprehension
– Math—focus on key content areas and demonstration of fact fluency

Grades 6-8
ELA
Grades 6-8
Math
Algebra 1
8 th grade
Honors Math
Only
PBA Unit 1 PBA Unit 2 PBA Unit 3 EOY Unit 1 EOY Unit 2
75
80
90
90
70
75
60 60
80
80
60
75
75

PBA Unit 1 PBA Unit 2 PBA Unit 3 EOY Unit 1 EOY Unit 2
ELA I, II, III 75 90 60 60 60
Algebra I,
Geometry,
Integrated
Math I, II
Algebra II,
Integrated
Math III
90
90
75
75
80
90
75
75

1. Complexity: Regular practice with complex text and its academic language.
2. Evidence: Reading and writing grounded in evidence from text, literary and informational.
3. Knowledge: Building knowledge through content rich nonfiction.

Types of Questions
➢ Range of Prose Constructed Responses (PCR)-
• Elicits evidence that students have understood a text or texts they have read and can communicate that understanding well both in terms of written expression and knowledge of language and conventions.
• Writing Task
• ➢ Technology-Enhanced Constructed Response (TECR)-
• Uses technology to capture student comprehension of texts in authentic ways that have been difficult to score by machine for large scale assessments
• drag and drop, cut and paste, shade text, move items to show relationships).
➢ Evidence-Based Selected Response (EBSR)
• Combines a traditional selected-response question with a second selected-response question that asks students to show evidence from the text that supports the answer they provided to the first question. Underscores the importance of Reading Anchor Standard 1 for implementation of the CCSS.
• Multiple Choice

• Drag the words from the word box into the correct locations on the graphic to show the life cycle of a butterfly as described in
“How Animals Live.”
• Words:
Pupa
Egg
Adult
Larva

• Literary Analysis Task—
– The Literature Task plays an important role in honing students’ ability to read complex text closely, a skill that research reveals as the most significant factor differentiating college-ready from non-college-ready readers. This task will ask students to carefully consider literature worthy of close study and compose an analytic essay.
– Part A—Reading Passage 1:
– Long fiction passage: prose, poem, or drama
– Interactive Literacy/Short Answer Questions
– Part B—Reading Passage 2:
– Short Fiction Passage: prose, poem, or drama (possibly audio or visual)
– Interactive Literacy/Short Answer Questions
– Part C—Literary Analysis writing task
– Long Passages—Middle School=1000 words or less
High School= 1500 words or less
Short Passages—400 words or less

Example:
Using what you have learned from reading the “Road Not
Taken” by Robert Frost, and the excerpt from the chapter, “The
Dragon Wakes” by Laurence Yep, write an essay that provides an analysis of how choice is treated in the two texts.
As a starting point, you may want to consider what is emphasized, absent, or different in the two texts, but feel free to develop your own focus for analysis.
Students will develop the essay by providing textual evidence from both texts.
(Fare, 2014)

• Narrative Task
– The Narrative Task broadens the way in which students may use this type of writing. Narrative writing can be used to convey experiences or events, real or imaginary. In this task, students may be asked to write a story, detail a scientific process, write a historical account of important figures, or to describe an account of events, scenes or objects, for example.
– Part A—Reading Passage 1:
– Short or long fiction or non-fiction passage, text or audio or video, or a combination of both
– Interactive Literacy/Short Answer Questions
– Part B—Narrative writing task
– Long Passages—Middle School=1000 words or less
High School= 1500 words or less
-Short Passages—400 words or less

Example: (from the introduction to the short story “Eleven,” by
Sandra Cisneros.)
In the above excerpt, the author develops an interesting situation where the narrator, Rachel, is discussing her feelings about her eleventh birthday. Think about the narrator’s current situation regarding the sweater, her hesitation, along with the details surrounding this classroom environment.
Write an original story to continue where the passage ends. In your story, be sure to use what you have learned about the character of Rachel as you tell what happens next.
(Fare, 2014)

• Research Simulation Task
– In this task, students will analyze an informational topic presented through several articles or multimedia stimuli, the first text being an anchor text that introduces the topic.
Students will engage with the texts by answering a series of questions and synthesizing information from multiple sources in order to write two analytic essays.
– Part A—Reading Passage 1:
– Long nonfiction Passage: article, speech, argument, opinion, biography, court case
– Interactive Literacy/Short Answer Questions
– Part B—Reading Passage 2:
– Short nonfiction Passage: article, speech, argument, opinion, biography, court case
– Interactive Literacy/Short Answer Questions
– Part C—Reading Passage 3:
– Short non-fiction text or video or audio clip
– Interactive Literacy/Short Answer Questions
– Part D—Research Simulation writing task
– Long Passages—Middle School=1000 words or less
High School= 1500 words or less
Short Passages—400 words or less

Example:
You have read three texts about ocean exploration. All three discuss challenges faced by ocean explorers. The three texts are:
• “Oceans: Earth’s Final Frontier”
• “Dive Technology”
• “Lights, Cameras, Invention!”
Think about the information the authors provide to show how explorers are improving exploration under water.
Write an essay that describes challenges that explorers face in at least two of the texts. Tell how they can overcome those challenges through the use of underwater technology. Remember to use textual evidence to support your ideas.
(McGraw-Hill, 2014)

• On the end-of-year assessment, students have the opportunity to demonstrate their ability to read and comprehend complex informational and literary texts. Questions will be sequenced in a way that they will draw students into deeper encounters with the texts and will result in more thorough comprehension of the concepts.

• A bat and ball cost $1.10.
• The bat costs one dollar more than the ball.
• How much does the ball cost?
• You probably answered 10¢. If the ball costs 10 ¢, then the total cost will be $1.20 (10¢ for the ball and $1.10 for the bat), not $1.10.
• The correct answer is 5¢. (5¢ for the ball and $1.05 for the bat), for a total of $1.10.

Type 1: Tasks assessing “concepts, skills and procedures”
• A mix of conceptual understanding, fluency, and application
• Machine Scorable
• On PBA and EOY
Type 2: Tasks assessing expressing mathematical reasoning”
• Written arguments/justifications, critique, and precision.
• Mix of machine scored and hand scored.
• On PBA
Type 3: “modeling/applications”
• Modeling/application in a real-world context or scenario and precision.
• Mix of machine scored and hand scored.
• On PBA

•Math Reference Sheet Given
•Scrap paper & pencils allowed
• Calculator Policy
• Grades 6-7—Four function with Square Root and
Percentage Functions
• Grade 8—Scientific Calculator
• Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II—Graphing Calculator

PARCC Video

• PARCC Sample Questions:
Grades
3-5
English Language Arts
Life in the Limbs http://www.parcconline.org/sites/ parcc/files/PARCCSampleItems_EL
A-Literacy_Grade5ItemsFinal.pdf
Math
Numbers of Stadium Seats http://ccsstoolbox.agilemind.com/p arcc/about_elementary_3776.html
6-8
9-12
Amelia Earhart http://www.parcconline.org/sampl es/english-languageartsliteracy/grade-7-elaliteracy
Anne’s Family Trip http://ccsstoolbox.agilemind.com/p arcc/about_middle_3808.html
Greek Mythology http://www.parcconline.org/sampl es/english-languageartsliteracy/grade-10-elaliteracy
Golf Balls in Water http://ccsstoolbox.agilemind.com/p arcc/about_highschool_3834.html

•Accessibility Features for All Students
•Blank Paper (provided by test administrator)
•Eliminate Answer Choices
•Flag Items for Review
•General Administration Directions Clarified (by test administrator)
•General Administration Directions Read Aloud and Repeated (by test administrator)
•Highlight Tool
•Headphones
•Magnification/Enlargement Device
•Notepad
•Pop-Up Glossary
•Redirect Student to Test (by test administrator)
•Spell Checker
•Writing Tools

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4
3
2
1
Level
5
• 2 Tests (PBA and EOY)
• Receive one score for Math and one score for ELA
Descriptor
Students performing at this level demonstrate a distinguished
command of the knowledge, skills, and practices embodied by the
CCSS assessed at their level.
Strong Command
Moderate Command
Partial Command
Minimal Command

• To assist teachers in supporting students
• To inform parents and students on progress towards “on track” college and career readiness
• To inform schools and districts on curricula, instructional and professional development needs
• By NJ’s college and universities as one of the indicators of a student’s readiness for entry-level, credit-bearing college courses

• To impact student’s grades
• To retain students
• As measure for placement in various programs

• Support students with homework
• Encourage your children to read
• Expose to literature and making connections
• Practice automaticity of math facts
• Encourage problem solving in multiple ways
• Explain the process for problem solving
• Listen to students justify their answers
• Practice typing
• Use technology tools: drag and drop, slide, cut/copy/paste
• Expose your children to different kinds of texts: stories, newspapers, magazines, biographies, science/history
• Talk with your child about what they read
• Practice fluency with math facts
• Encourage your child to justify their reasoning

• www.parcconline.org
• www.parcconline.org/samples/item-task-prototypes
• www.corestandards.org
• www.achievethecore.org
• www.njcore.org
• http://parccgames.com
• www.ccsstoolbox.agilemind.com/parcc/PARCCprototypemain.ht
ml
• www.state.nj.us/education/cces/AchieveResources.htm
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• http://www.ccsstoolbox.com/parcc/PARCCPrototype_main.html