Illinois State Board of Education
100 North First Street • Springfield, Illinois 62777-0001
www.isbe.net
James T. Meeks
Chairman
Christopher A. Koch, Ed.D.
State Superintendent of Education
Fact Sheet
PARCC Testing Times
February 2015, Division of Public Information
The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College
and Careers (PARCC) assessment being administered this
spring is aligned to the new, more rigorous Illinois Learning
Standards and will measure the full range of student knowledge
and skills needed to be ready for the next grade level and,
ultimately, to succeed in college and careers.
Federal law, specifically the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act (ESEA), also known as the No Child Left Behind
Act of 2001, requires that all third- through eighth-graders be
assessed in English language arts (ELA) and mathematics each
year, and that high school students are tested at least once prior
to graduation. The PARCC assessment replaces the Illinois
Standards Achievement Test (ISAT) and Prairie State
Achievement Examination (PSAE) that were previously
administered in Illinois schools.
More information
about the PARCC
assessment is
available online:



A full breakdown of this
year’s PARCC
assessment individual
unit times is now
available.
Spring 2015 testing
windows.
For additional details
about the PARCC
assessment, visit the
PARCC page on the
ISBE website.
But the PARCC assessment is not comparable to the
previous tests. The PARCC assessment was designed to be a
more meaningful test that mirrors not only the classroom
experience under new learning standards but also what students
will one day experience in college and careers. The PARCC
assessment features in-depth questions that challenge students
to demonstrate and apply knowledge. Results will help teachers better target instruction to improve any
areas of weakness and support student growth. The PARCC assessment may allow school districts in
Illinois to forgo other tests that they currently administer at the local level.
The PARCC assessment in ELA and mathematics will take students about three to four hours longer
to complete, depending on grade level, than the previous state tests, but still will account for less than
one-tenth of 1 percent of the average instructional time this school year. It is the only assessment
required by the state of Illinois.
Illinois and other PARCC states are administering the two-part summative assessment this
spring. The summative assessment is one test broken into two parts: the Performance-Based
Assessment (PBA) and the End-of-Year (EOY) assessment. The PBA is given at approximately 75
percent of instruction and the EOY is given at the end of the school year. Below is a breakdown of time
allotments for the PBA and EOY by grade level for the ELA and math assessments. Also included is
the estimated time to complete each unit.
Field-test results in 2014 found that a majority of students taking the PARCC assessments
finished well before the end of the allotted time. The full allotment of time will be scheduled for each
assessment so that all students have adequate time to demonstrate what they have learned. Most
students will spend nearly four hours on the mathematics and four hours on the English language
arts/literacy portions of the tests.
PARCC ASSESSMENT
Total time
allotted*
Grade 3, ELA and Math
9 hours, 45
minutes
Grades 4-5, ELA and Math
10 hours
Grades 6-8, ELA and Math
Grades 9-11, ELA and Math
10 hours, 50
minutes
11 hours, 15
minutes**
Estimated
time on task*
Units in PBA***
Units in
EOY***
6 hours, 30
minutes
6 hours, 45
minutes
7 hours, 25
minutes
7 hours, 30
minutes
3 ELA, 2 Math
1 ELA, 2 Math
3 ELA, 2 Math
1 ELA, 2 Math
3 ELA, 2 Math
2 ELA, 2 Math
3 ELA, 2 Math
2 ELA, 2 Math
*Includes both segments of the test: Performance-Based and End-ofYear assessments
**Some high school math assessments will be slightly shorter
***Unit times range from 60-90
min. each (Est. time on task: 40-60
min.)
Note: Districts are encouraged to administer no more than two units per day and are given a two-week window to
administer PBA and EOY.
Students with disabilities and English learners may have more time if it is called for in their
Individualized Education Plan, 504 plan or an EL plan. A full list of accessibility and accommodation
features is available on the PARCC website.
Comparison to previous assessments:
PREVIOUS TESTING TIME ALLOTTED
Total time (per
year)
Estimated time on
task
Grades 3, 5, 6 and 8 (ISAT)
5 hours, 30 minutes
4 hours, 30 minutes
Grades 9-11 (PSAE) + the ACT “Locating Information”
test, one of three WorkKeys
6 hours, 55 minutes
N/A
ISAT/PSAE
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