March+PARCC+Bytes


 * March PARCC Bytes **
 * March 6 **

Are you curious about how the online PARCC test is really going to look? There is a practice site available now for all students to use, even at home! There is a link in your “Teacher Apps” folder, in the “Student Apps” folder that will take you to the Pearson/PARCC Practice site. This is the direct link that will take you there: [|http://practice.parcc.testnav.com/#] .

Some advice from people who have used the site:
 * 1) 1. Taking students through the Tutorial will be very important.
 * 2) 2. A possible problem for some students: you don’t have to click on the radio button to choose an item. You may inadvertently change some answers when you click on the words – not the button - for a different.
 * 3) 3. You may receive error messages. If you have any problems or receive any error messages, please make sure you send them to PARCC@support.pearson.com and get an Incident Number.


 * March 13 **

Last month you received sample assessment blueprints for an ELA question and for a Math question. This link will take you to the full Assessment Blueprints: [] <span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic',sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">You can scroll down to your grade level and/or content area to see Test Specification details.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic',sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">March 20 **

<span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic',sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Do you speak PARCC? <span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic',sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Here is a list of PARCC-related acronyms, terms, and their meanings.

<span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic',sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">All Harlem Schools are participating in the Field Test; individual classrooms were selected by ISBE. ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic',sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">PARCC || <span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic',sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic',sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">PBA || <span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic',sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Performance-Based Assessment (Will be administered in late March/Early April) ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic',sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">EOY || <span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic',sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">End-Of-Year Assessment (Will be administered in May/June) ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic',sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">MYA || <span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic',sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Mid-Year Assessment (Will be administered Late Fall) ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic',sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">PNP || <span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic',sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Personal Needs Profile (A document that must be completed for any student who receives certain accommodations. Click <span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic',sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">[|here] <span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic',sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> for more details) ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic',sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">LEA || <span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic',sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Local Education Agency ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic',sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Field Test || <span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic',sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Most schools in the PARCC Consortium (consisting of 18 states) are participating in a “Practice Test” to determine how the administration of both the paper and online versions of the tests will work. Student scores will not be shared with participants.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic',sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">TestNav || <span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic',sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The online testing platform for PARCC testing that was developed by Pearson. ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic',sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Student Authorization Ticket || <span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic',sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">All students who take the online test will receive a “Student Authorization Ticket” with a unique code they will use when logging in to take the test. This code ensures they receive access to the correct assessment, including any accommodations identified by a PNP or IEP. ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic',sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Seal Code || <span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic',sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Seal codes are used to lock sessions of the online test. They prevent students from going ahead to a session not being administered or going back to a session that has already been completed. ||


 * <span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic',sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">March 27 **

<span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic',sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">What test components will students take to get an overall, or summative, score at the end of the year?

<span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic',sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">PARCC has **two required assessment components** that make up a student’s overall score: the performance-based assessment **(PBA)** component and the end-of-year **(EOY)** assessment component. These will be given annually in ELA/literacy in grades 3–11; in mathematics, the assessments will be given annually in grades 3-8 and in high school math courses (Algebra I, Geometry, and Algebra II or their equivalent).

<span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic',sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The performance-based assessment component is administered after about three-fourths of the instructional year is completed and requires students to apply their knowledge to complex problems and produce a product. For example, a student might be asked to read texts and write essays drawing from those. Similarly, a student could be asked to apply a key math concept toward solving real-world problems. The end-of-year assessment component is administered after about 90 percent of instructional days have passed. It requires students to demonstrate the knowledge and skills they have acquired by responding to computer-scored questions.