NJDOE claims PARCC benefits outweigh drawbacks

There are the SATs and the ACTs. There are AP exams and placement tests. All are standardized, and all are commonplace to many high school students. They can feel long and drawn out, and many think it is painful to sit in a room for so long. But they have their upsides, including, quite obviously, getting into college. There are the SATs and the ACTs. There are AP exams and placement tests. All are standardized, and all are commonplace to many high school students. They can feel long and drawn out, and many think it is painful to sit in a room for so long. But they have their upsides, including, quite obviously, getting into college.

In the past, there has been the HSPA exam in high school and NJASK during middle and elementary school. Since second grade, students have been exposed to the setting of standardized tests. The purposes of them all are similar: to test how well students knew the information they were being taught and how knowledgeable they were compared to other students across the state.

As of 2010, New Jersey has taken up the Common Core system, which “clearly demonstrates what students are expected to learn at each grade level.” In order to “ensure that every child is on a path to college and career readiness,” students are now taking the PARCC exams. They are more aligned with this more challenging Common Core system, according to the PARCC website.

But, as with all standardized tests, questions have arisen about the need for the test. Standardized testing as a whole is now being debated.

Pascack Valley’s Vice Principal John Puccio said that new tests like the PARCC will be beneficial and are, in fact, necessary.

“You’re going to be exposed to exams on the computer,” he said. “And I know for me that it was a difficult task because I wasn’t used to it. Being tested on the computer is a little different.”

The New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) came out with a report covering the misconceptions about the PARCC Assessment and why they aren’t true. One of the common myths is that “taking PARCC tests cannot improve teaching and learning.” However, the PARCC serves as a measurement for each student as to which core skills they’re exceeding in and which they need more practice in, according to NJDOE.

Furthermore, the PARCC tests “offer significant educational improvements over tests of the past” because of the different, more practical types of questions presented and the fact that it’s taken on a computer.

Nikki Raymond, a junior at PV, agreed with the fact that the PARCC was able to test the information and knowledge she’d been taught in high school. Although she did admit it was difficult, she ended up doing well on the PARCC last year.

The NJDOE said, “Expectations of the global workforce continue to change, and if our children are to be internationally competitive when they graduate from high school, our education must also change.”

Therefore, according to the NJDOE, change is  necessary for the success of students once high school ends. Not only are exams going to be on a computer in college, but work opportunities will also require exposure to computer-based learning. The PARCC will help students grow more comfortable with assessments on the computer.

“Everything’s not great in the beginning,” said Puccio, “so hopefully if we’re going to continue this, it just only gets better.”

Another myth presented by the NJDOE is that individual students would not benefit from the PARCC. They reacted by saying that the PARCC exam tests each student’s “real-world skills, such as critical thinking and problem solving.”

“Taking a multiple choice or short answer test isn’t going to determine what you’re going to do and how you’re going to do it,” PV sophomore Megan Thorn said.“That’s not what life is about.”

The PARCC tests are difficult to a lot of students. But, as the NJDOE put it, “A ‘difficult’ test is different from a ‘challenging’ one.” The PARCC assessments are designed to help students to stop relying on memorization and instead start thinking about their answers.

Matt Beyer, a freshman, agreed with the NJDOE, saying that the PARCC “teaches you the skill you need to take the harder and more important standardized tests in the future.”