Education Week - December 10, 2014 - 6

Consortium Tests Officially Launched
For Students in Some School Districts
By Catherine Gewertz
The first common-core tests designed
collaboratively by a group of
states are making their debut this
month, with 30,000 middle and high
school students sitting for exams in
mathematics and English/language
arts. Millions more students in grades
3-11 will take such tests later in the
winter and next spring.
After four years of controversy surrounding
the federally funded tests
from two multistate consortia, the
first administration is a small-scale
affair. Only one of the consortia-
the Partnership for Assessment of
Readiness for College and Careers,
or parcc-is giving tests this fall,
and only to a fraction of its students.
Tests created by the other group,
the Smarter Balanced Assessment
Consortium, won't be given until the
spring.
The two groups of states used $360
million in U.S. Department of Education
Race to the Top money to design
the assessments tied to the Common
Core State Standards. Those standards,
released in 2010, are the product
of an initiative led by groups representing
the nation's state governors
and schools chiefs.
The students who are currently
taking the parcc tests are on "block"
schedules, in which courses cover an
entire year's study in one semester.
The fall testing period includes students
in six states: Arkansas, Illinois,
Maryland, Mississippi, Ohio, and
Rhode Island. Students on traditional
schedules will take the parcc exams
during second semester.
Altogether, more than 5 million students
are expected to take the parcc
tests in nine states and the District of
Columbia in 2014-15.
Time and Technology
Parcc's test consists of two parts:
performance tasks, which will be administered
between Dec. 1 and Dec.
19 and involve complex reading, writing,
and math tasks; and the end-ofyear
portion, composed of multiplechoice
questions, which will be given
between Dec. 15 and Jan. 16. States
decide which days within those windows
their districts will give the tests.
The parcc assessments were deand
extended time," Jack Drew, an assistant
principal at Rising Sun High
School, in the Chesapeake Bay town
of Northeast, Md., said last week.
Louisa A. Welch, the academic dean
1/2 Col Horiz
at Kent Island High School, about
70 miles to the south in Stevensville,
Md., said most students at her school
took all the time allowed to complete
the exams.
"More often than not, students were
signed to be computer-based, but this
fall's administration uses only the paper-and-pencil
version. For the spring
administration, schools can decide
whether to use the paper or computer
version; "well over half" the schools in
the parcc states are planning to go
with computers, according to parcc
officials.
Consortium guidelines suggest that
schools schedule 50 percent more
time for each testing session than the
test itself is expected to take. And if
two Maryland high schools' experience
with the English 10 and Algebra
2 exams is any indication, many students
need all the available time.
"We found that yesterday, with the
English, and today, with the math, I'd
say about 20 percent of the kids are
using pretty much all of the allotted
"
It is a lot of testing, on
a lot of days. We may
have to stagger the
schedule so kids aren't
missing the same
class. We have to
think creatively at the
school level to make
sure we're doing the
best we can by kids."
LOUISA A. WELCH
Kent Island High School, Md.
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working pretty hard to finish," she
said. With the state's previous test,
students typically had "more than
enough time to complete each session,"
she said.
Schools had flexibility in scheduling
the assessments. There are three
sessions for the performance tasks in
English, and two for math.
At Rising Sun, students took one
session each day in their regular
English and math classes. Mr. Drew
said he and his fellow administrators
would be discussing whether
that's a good plan to stick with, or
whether they should schedule each
subject's sessions back to back, in
one day, as the state's previous test
was scheduled.
Juggling Sessions
At Kent Island, students took the
tests during their first class period
of the day. Ms. Welch said school officials
are considering changing that
approach because it meant that students
missed multiple days of their
first-period class. Part of that discussion,
she said, will be figuring out how
to keep a 90-minute test session from
spilling over into the next class block.
The 75-minute test sessions didn't
pose that problem during 90-minute
class blocks, she said.
Another part of the discussion will
explore ways to juggle the time demands
of the parcc test with those of
the other state tests that sophomores
must take this year, in government
and biology, she said.
"It is a lot of testing, on a lot of
days," Ms. Welch said. "We may have
to stagger the schedule so kids aren't
missing the same class. We have to
think creatively at the school level
to make sure we're doing the best we
can by kids."
Mr. Drew said that seeing so many
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students work right up until the end
of the testing sessions suggested that
they were taking the test seriously.
"We were concerned about students
accepting the parcc test," he said.
"But my take on it is that our teachers
must have done a good job preparing
students, explaining the test, and
that students took it seriously and
worked hard."
In Maryland, students have had
to pass state exams in English/
language arts, math, biology, and
government to graduate. But as
the state transitions to parcc, it is
phasing in the use of that test as a
graduation requirement. This year's
9th graders will be the first students
required to pass the parcc test to
earn a diploma.
The parcc consortium plans to set
cut scores for the five achievement
levels of its test in summer 2015, and
send results back to states, districts,
and schools late next fall, said parcc
spokesman David Connerty-Marin.
The Smarter Balanced consortium
announced its cut scores last month,
and released projections showing that
more than half the students who take
the test will fall short of the marks
connoting proficiency in math and
English/language arts. (See Education
Week, Dec. 3, 2014.)
St. Louis-Area Schools to Tackle
Civil Unrest, Race Relations
| DISTRICT DOSSIER | While schools in the St. Louis area reopened
following a grand jury's decision not to indict a white police officer in
the shooting death of a black teenager, educators planned on ways to
tackle such issues as civil unrest and race relations.
Educators in Ferguson-Florissant, Jennings, Riverview Gardens,
and Hazelwood, among other districts, confronted similar issues
at the start of the school year, after the Aug. 9 shooting of Michael
Brown by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson. The shooting led to
days of protests and a widely criticized militarized response by police.
In preparation for the grand jury action, the Clayton district added
a link for staff, parents, and the community on its website on how to
talk to children about civil unrest. And Riverview Gardens devised
a grade-specific game plan on how to deal with the unrest when
students returned to school.
For K-2 students, for example, educators planned to use Peter
Rabbit for a discussion on handling conflicts, character conflict, and
conflict resolution. Students were to have the opportunity to express
their feelings through art therapy, said Bonita Jamison, the district's
assistant superintendent of student-support services.
Writing activities were also planned, in which students would be
given the opportunity to write about the events from the point of
view of those who were affected-for example, of a police officer, a
community member, or a student, Jamison said.
Older students could analyze articles on the 1965 Watts riots in
Los Angeles and compare and contrast what happened there to the
present-day events in Ferguson.
Since September, principals and teachers have received professional
development on how to address the civil unrest and provide support
for students, Jamison said.
Students are also protesting the grand jury's decision. High school
students in Hazelwood, Ferguson-Florissant, and Kirkwood walked
out of classes Dec. 2 to express their displeasure.
Use of E-Learning on Snow Days
Raises Concerns Over Web Access
| DIGITAL EDUCATION | Kentucky and Pennsylvania are among the
states creating opportunities for districts to deliver online instruction
to students who are homebound because of inclement weather, but
some observers are concerned about the plans.
The Associated Press reports that Kentucky's plan to let 13 districts
replace snow days with a setup in which students receive instruction
at home, mostly via the Internet, has "caused a new set of challenges."
"Some students don't have computers or home Internet access,"
the story says, and "districts that opt to use the home-school option
would lose state transportation dollars and federal money for free and
reduced lunches."
Kentucky also ranks 46th out of 50 states on the availability of
high-speed Internet, says the article, creating potential barriers for
some students, especially those living in poor and rural districts.
In Pennsylvania, meanwhile, the Sentinel, a news organization for
Cumberland County, reports that connectivity is also a major concern.
Despite the challenges, it's likely that both states-and others-will
continue their push to leverage technology to reduce the amount of
instructional time lost to bad weather.
-BENJAMIN HEROLD
Tonight's Homework Assignment:
Prepare for Disaster
| TIME AND LEARNING | It's one thing when government officials set
education policy, but for some students in Michigan, the government
is giving them homework that could save their lives.
Since 2012, more than 9,000 Michigan 5th graders have taken
part in a disaster-preparedness program developed by teachers and
sponsored by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
The Student Tools for Emergency Planning program teaches
students how to prepare for emergencies and common weatherrelated
natural disasters in their communities, such as wildfires,
earthquakes, tornadoes, and hurricanes.
For homework, students have to teach their families what they
learned in school and develop family-evacuation and -communications
plans.
The program is available to 5th grade classes across the country.
Each student receives a backpack stocked with blankets, whistles,
flashlights, extra batteries, and other basic emergency supplies.
Teachers who commit to a one-hour base lesson receive free lessonplanning
materials, including dvds, disaster game cards, and student
handouts. Another eight to 10 hours of supplemental lessons are
online.
-DENISA R. SUPERVILLE
-KATHRYN BARON
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Education Week - December 10, 2014

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