JACKSON — More than 200 parents and educators from around the state filled the Jackson Liberty High School auditorium to vent their concerns about the type and volume of tests to which students in New Jersey are being subjected on an annual basis.
The Jan. 29 public hearing was held by the Study Commission on the Use of Student Assessments in New Jersey and state Department of Education Commissioner David C. Hespe.
The study commission has been charged with reviewing the quality and quantity of student assessments being administered in New Jersey, but its hearings have become a place for opponents of the new Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) examination to vent their grievances.
According to the Department of Education, the study commission was created by Gov. Chris Christie and is charged with reviewing and providing appropriate recommendations about the volume, frequency and impact of student assessments in public school districts, including those used for college administration, college credit and college pathways.
Christie also ordered the study commission to make recommendations regarding the Core Curriculum Content Standards, including the Common Core State Standards and PARCC.
The PARCC exam will be administered on computer to New Jersey students this spring.
PARCC, which was created in 2010, is a coalition of states that sought to establish a standard curriculum for math and literacy, called the Common Core State Standards, based on the skills pupils will need to be viable future candidates for college and a modern job market.
In 2010, 23 states and the District of Columbia joined the PARCC consortium. However, with Mississippi’s withdrawal from the consortium last month, there are now only 10 states and the District of Columbia that remain committed to PARCC.
For months, opponents of the assessment have said the backpedaling of other states from the consortium is a sign that PARCC is not a viable way for districts to address their own specialized needs.
More than 60 people testified at the hearing, and many of those who spoke put PARCC in their crosshairs.
“We are not just fighting for our kids here. We are fighting for all kids, for the foundations of what we know as public education and for democracy,” said Melissa Katz, 19, who is studying urban elementary education at The College of New Jersey.
“The issue here really is local control. Teachers know what the best way is to fairly and appropriately assess students for the purpose of information to help guide the next steps of instruction,” she said.
Testing conducted by teachers, Katz said, is more effective than standardized testing because results are tallied and returned to students within hours or days, rather than at the end of the school year, like PARCC.
Although the concept of using standardized tests to assess students’ progress is nothing new, Jackson resident Melissa Elsner said there are many instances where PARCC has negatively affected the way a teacher instructs her students.
“The state has chosen to associate test results with discipline [i.e., evaluation] for teachers and schools. … It has forced educators to spend the majority of the school day preparing for a test so their pupils will prove their teacher’s worth with a test result,” Elsner said. “All of this is at the expense of a balanced curriculum.”
Inbar Robbins of Manalapan said PARCC represents a major failing by forcing students to learn by “filling in bubbles.” She said the notion of preparing an elementary school student for college and a career that is decades away is unreasonable.
“I am angry that anyone would think it is right or fair to assess a third-grader on college or career readiness,” Robbins said.
Other testimony focused on what speakers claimed was the assessment’s lack of attention to the needs of different students, including those from families that are struggling financially.
In the years gearing up for PARCC, school boards throughout the state have spent millions of dollars upgrading their computer and Internet capabilities in preparation for the online tests.
While proponents of the tests claim the high-tech nature of the assessment will make students familiar with computers and computer software, some parents lamented that it leaves cash-strapped school districts and families either behind or footing the bill.
“The changes involved in PARCC leave this segment of our population only further behind. This is an injustice to these young children who have so much potential,” Robert Quinn said. “The key to move out of poverty is encouraging the love of education, which is the opposite of Common Core and PARCC.”
In addition to the technical costs to districts, the company behind PARCC, Pearson Education Inc., charges about $25 per student to take the tests. That amount of money is a misappropriation of funds, according to Lisa Rodgers of Monmouth Junction.
“Let’s invest in our teachers … instead of spending millions of dollars on tests that do not tell us anything new about our children,” she said.
Contact Andrew Martins at [email protected].