Governor Christie Announces Improved Statewide PARCC Results in Year Two

TRENTON – Governor Chris Christie announced positive gains in the preliminary statewide Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) assessment results in mathematics and English language arts for the 2015-16 school year.  Overall, a higher percentage of students met or exceeded expectations – indicating they are on pace to be college and career ready – in nearly all subjects and grade levels. These scores also represent an emerging trend across all socioeconomic groups of a shrinking percentage of students failing to meet expectations or partially meeting expectations.
“We are encouraged by the positive gains made by our students on the PARCC assessment,” said Governor Christie. “New Jersey’s educational system is one of the best in the nation, and we are committed to keep pushing for improvements that will continue student success. We pursued the higher-quality assessment because we knew our students were well-positioned to meet the challenge, and these results further validate that approach.”
This is the second year that the PARCC assessment has been administered in New Jersey, and it is the earliest that results from a New Jersey statewide assessment have been released after the close of the testing window. PARCC asks students to demonstrate their understanding of the State’s academic standards and apply their knowledge and skills by utilizing critical thinking, analytical writing, and problem solving. PARCC is designed to provide teachers and school administrators with usable information that can help improve classroom instruction.
In addition to improved student results, more students participated in each of the PARCC tests than the year before, signaling that parents and educators understand the value of the assessments in providing information that can improve their schools and inform parents.
“Thanks to the tremendous job done by school administrators and teachers, these results are exactly what we would expect,” said Education Commissioner David C. Hespe. “The Department will continue to collaborate with districts to support their efforts in using PARCC as one tool in preparing students for a successful future.”
Based on feedback from educators, a number of improvements were made in the second-year PARCC administration. Overall, the PARCC tests were 90 minutes shorter, there were fewer testing sessions, and two testing windows were reduced to just one testing window. These modifications benefited students and teachers by reducing the amount of time spent on the statewide assessment.
Similar to last year, PARCC data is expected to be released in different phases, but this year it will be released months earlier. Districts already received their own preliminary data in June, and are expected to receive final data and individual score reports in mid-August. Parents should be receiving their individual student score reports from their districts around the start of the school year. It is also anticipated that PARCC tools for educators will start being available by September – almost six months earlier than last year.
“Receiving the PARCC data and resources this early will allow school leaders to create an educational system that utilizes the PARCC data to improve their schools, such as aligning their curricula and using professional development opportunities for teachers,” said Education Commissioner David C. Hespe.
The Department will be working with organizations, such as the New Jersey Principals and Supervisors Association, on professional development programs that will inform educators on how to use the PARCC results and tools to improve classroom instruction. This is in addition to the Department’s numerous training and outreach programs aimed at educating teachers and administrators on how PARCC data can benefit student learning in ways that New Jersey’s previous assessments never could.
Over the last year, numerous educators and researchers, including the National Network of State Teachers of the Year, have reviewed PARCC and have validated it as an assessment that is more grade-level appropriate than prior state tests. They have also concluded that PARCC is clearly an effective assessment in determining whether students have an understanding of the standards and are on the pathway to being college and career ready.