MAPLEWOOD / SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — A total of 143 students in the South Orange-Maplewood School District to date have refused to take the controversial Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers exam, the computer-based standardized test meant to measure students’ competency in math and language arts in grades three to 11 based on the Common Core educational standards, according to a statement released by acting Superintendent James Memoli.
That is just 3 percent of the 4,514 total students eligible to participate in testing this year. And according to Memoli, the exam went “extremely well” for the fifth-, eighth- and 11th-grade students who took it during the first week it was proctored.
“Approximately 1,500 students were taking the PARCC at the same time, and we experienced very few issues with our Chromebooks or network,” Memoli said in his statement.
Memoli said there was some confusion regarding the use of the testing administration software; however, he said all issues were addressed the same day and testing went on as scheduled.
The reason things went so smoothly can be attributed to the efforts of district staff, Memoli said.
“Many thanks to our teachers and administrators, especially the assistant principals, for their hard work and patience in adapting to the new testing protocol and for supporting our students in this new experience,” Memoli said. “Particular thanks to Paul Roth, chief information officer, for overseeing all technical aspects of the transition to PARCC. His fastidious preparations set the district up for success in PARCC implementation.”
While the lack of any major PARCC issues is surely a relief for students and parents, the fact that so many children ended up taking the test comes as a surprise considering the events that led up to it. In the weeks before the assessment, many parents spoke out against the test, citing concerns that ranged from issues with the fact that testing is completely technology-based to problems with questions they said were confusingly written. They called for the district to implement a policy that would allow students to refuse it without any ill action taken against them.
And the board initially seemed ready to comply, passing a policy on first reading at its Feb. 2 meeting that would have given parents the right to keep their children out of PARCC testing with only “educationally appropriate and non-punitive responses” from the district in return. But that proposed policy was tabled after the district implemented its own procedure of giving parents the option of notifying principals of their children’s refusal to take the exam. Students not taking the assessment were told that they would not face negative consequences for their refusal, and asked to bring a book to occupy themselves during the testing.
In the end, however, most students evidently decided to try the test, which will not be used to assess their performance in 2015 and will not be counted as a graduation requirement through at least 2018. Teachers are the only ones who will be affected by the PARCC assessment this year, with results counting for 10 percent of their evaluations.