Murphy Wants NJ Out Of PARCC
At a press conference today in Atlantic City, Governor Murphy said he wants to take NJ out of PARCC student assessment testing.
“PARCC’s high-stakes, high-stress system has been, I believe, a detriment to our students and our educators,” Murphy said.
With DOE Commissioner Repollet at his side, Murphy said he wants to reduce the length of testing to 25 percent and the amount of tests reduced from six to two .
The DOE will begin immediately to lessen the impact of PARCC testing on students. They can’t do away with it immediately, calling it a temporary step within a few years, but want to begin the transition. The Governor said they’ve accumulated feedback from stakeholders .
“We are now on a clear path away from it,” Murphy said. “I would have proferred to ditch it on Day One.”
Saying there’s a national trend towards getting back to classroom flexibility, the Governor said “New Jersey, with a lot of input from all sides of the discussion, wants to be not just part of that trend, but to be a leader.”
Speaker Coughlin lauded the move in a statement: “This is a step in the right direction. From the moment it was introduced, the PARCC was widely criticized by teachers, school administrators, parents and students for being overly confusing and taking up too much instructional time. We cannot evaluate student proficiency and base a student’s ability to graduate on a flawed system. Students should have to prove that they are ready for graduation, but not through an assessment as inadequate and problematic as the PARCC. I’m glad Gov. Murphy is reversing course on this, and clearing the way for a more effective and responsible approach to measuring student learning.”
I am delighted to read of Gov. Phil Murphy and other leaders working to end PARCC testing in New Jersey! I know, from studies and experiences, that standardized testing does not accurately measure the potential in every child. I, for example have earned Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctoral degrees. And I have enjoyed careers in my Journalism and Education fields. But my standardized test scores? Far from stellar!
Education scholars have long proven such scores don’t measure all people’s academic abilities. Scholars show the tests especially overlook the prowess of children from lower incomes, or/and from non-white races.
Gov. Murphy and others are rightly working to end PARCC! And I look forward to our society someday ridding of all standardized testing, and replacing it with individualized, student portfolios. Portfolios could ensure that every child does not get left behind.