A Publication of the
Madison Public
Schools Office of
Curriculum and
Instruction
May 2014
Madison Students Complete PARCC Field Testing
In addition to the students who completed performance based assessments earlier this year,
six classes of Madison students at Kings Road School (Grade 5 English Language Arts),
Madison Junior School (Grade 7 Mathematics), and Madison High School (Grade 9 English
Language Arts) completed PARCC end of year field testing in May.
As part of our efforts to learn as much as possible from our students’ testing experience in
order to improve our instructional practices in Madison, all participating students were asked
to complete a survey about their experience. The links below will bring you to summaries of
those survey results:
A Walk in the PARCC
aims to provide all
those with an interest in
the Madison Public
Schools with the latest
information about the
Common Core State
Standards and PARCC
assessments.
Central Avenue School
Kings Road School
Madison Junior School
Madison High School
What Do These Tests Look Like?
For a while now, reporters have been explaining to their readers that the Common Core
assessments go beyond multiple choice and require critical thinking, writing and the use of
evidence. But what do the test items actually look like? The most important message is that
there is no “test prep” for these tests; these are the kinds of test items that require
understanding of concepts and application that come only through a year of good teaching,
not last minute practice.
In a typical prompt on NJASK, students might be asked to write a letter to a cafeteria
supervisor suggesting new menu items and explaining why they should be added. While this
does require writing and making a persuasive argument, it doesn’t require the students to use
evidence from a text. On PARCC, students might read a passage from the Declaration of
Independence and a Patrick Henry speech and watch a short video before writing about the
purpose of government according to the colonists based on the multimedia they consumed
during the test itself.
You can find two examples of what this might look by clicking here.
Article adapted from “What Do They Look Like” published at http://parcconline.org.
Masthead Design:
Dani Bratton
Madison High School Teacher
“The questions are thinking questions.”
A Kings Road School 5th grader reflecting on PARCC field testing
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PARCC Test Blueprints and Test Specs
For educators or others who really want to dig into the nitty-gritty of the PARCC assessments,
PARCC has released a set of test specification documents, including assessment blueprints and
evidence statement tables, to help educators and the general public better understand the
design of the PARCC assessments.
Blueprints are a series of documents that together describe the content and structure of an
assessment. These documents define the total number of tasks and/or items for any given
assessment component, the standards measured, the item types, and the point values for
each.
Evidence statement tables and evidence statements describe the knowledge and skills that an
assessment item or a task elicits from students. These are aligned directly to the Common
Core State Standards, and highlight their advances especially around the coherent nature of
the standards.
The various documents, explanatory PowerPoint presentations, and frequently asked
questions are available by clicking here.
Article adapted from “Blueprints & Test Specs” published at https://www.parcconline.org.
Practice PARCC Tests Now Available
Want to see PARCC items in action? Would you like to know how PARCC is different from
previous standardized tests like NJASK and HSPA?
Follow PARCC on
At this time, practice Performance-Based Assessment tests are available for grades 3-11 in
English Language Arts and End-of-Year tests are available for grades 3-8 mathematics and
Algebra I, Geometry, and Algebra II. Although scoring is not built into the practice test, answer
keys and rubrics are posted. Access the practice tests by visiting practice.parcc.testnav.com/.
Twitter
@PARCCplace
Need a Common Core State Standards Primer?
The Council of Great City Schools published a three-minute video animation that explains
“how the Common Core State Standards will help students achieve at high levels and help
them learn what they need to know to get to graduation and beyond.” You can see the video
by clicking here.
Office of Curriculum and
Instruction
Madison Public Schools
359 Woodland Road
Madison. NJ 07940
www.madisonpublicschools.org
@MadisonNJPS
Matthew A. Mingle, Director
What Do You Think?
“A Walk in the PARCC” is designed to keep the entire Madison learning community informed
as we transition to new educational standards and assessments. Please take a moment to
complete a brief survey to guide the development of future newsletters.
The survey can be accessed at http://tinyurl.com/AWalkInTheParcc.
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