PARCC in Massachusetts
One teacher's attempt to connect with other educators across Massachusetts and beyond and provide relevant, up-to-date, and sometime helpful information on next generation assessments, common core state standards implementation, and college and career ready initiatives
PARCC and MCAS Early Decision Update: July 2, 2014- Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
“As of the June 30, 2014, early deadline, a total of 297 districts have made a binding selection, with 176 districts (or 59%) choosing to administer PARCC in spring 2015, and 121 districts (or 41%) choosing to administer MCAS. In addition, 65 districts have chosen to administer the grades 9 and/or 11 PARCC tests, which are subject to appropriation.”
http://www.doe.mass.edu/news/news.aspx?id=10345
PARCC in Massachusetts 
The DESE erroneously counted charter schools as districts. When charter schools are removed from the calculation the number of districts choosing MCAS and rejecting PARCC is much closer. In fact 66% of districts have either chosen MCAS or have not yet committed to PARCC. Nationally the news for PARCC is even worse as States are dumping the test left and right. It’s become so troubling for the testing consortium that last week they posted on their website an article titled “PARCC is Alive and Well” in which they were forced to address the apparent free fall. It’s ironic that those school districts that selected PARCC did so because they thought PARCC was inevitable when the reality is that PARCC is imploding.
Couple points of clarification – Under Massachusetts Law charter schools are districts and are treated as such for assessment as well as other matters. DESE is completely accurate in their inclusion of charters, but it may helpful to present data for all districts (including charters), districts not including charters, and charter districts. The news that some states are not opting for PARCC is not indication that the assessment is not as good or better than MCAS and states like Ohio, Illinois, and New Jersey still have strong implementation in plans in place. So, while well me be an overstatement, imploding may be as well. Lastly, many districts released statements on their choices and most seemed to indicate that the assessment more accurately represented what and how they wanted students being assessed. In districts where students are tackling both literary and informational texts, negotiation and using digital tools, and engaging in more targeted development of critical thinking and problem-solving, PARCC was, for many, a more natural fit than MCAS. While there is much to be critical of, the decisions being made by districts and DESE are more complicated and involve a variety of factors.
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