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State Representative Jim Buchy
PARCC Testing
Results
The preliminary results from last school year’s PARCC math and language
arts examinations are in and things don’t look good for the common
core. According to this preliminary data, only 35-40% of
elementary and middle school students who took the online test
passed.
By PARCC standards, students must meet or exceed expectations set from
the common core. In an attempt to offset these poor results, the
Ohio Department of Education has proposed aligning PARCC scores with
the previous scale used for the Ohio Achievement Tests. This
would mean that students who “approached expectations” would be
considered proficient, thus passing the exam. Still, under this
alternative scoring system, only 65-70% of Ohio’s students would pass.
With the release of these poor results, we see once again how wrong
PARCC, and the common core, are for our children. These tests
were time consuming, the standards unreasonable, and the rollout was
riddled with technical problems. Instead of getting a true
education, our students were burdened with the stresses of difficult
standards and extended testing.
Considering all of the challenges PARCC and the common core have
created for our students, we can see how necessary House Bill 7, safe
harbor for students, truly is. Without HB 7, up to 65% of our
students would be vulnerable because of a test that just wasn’t ready
for prime time. Safe Harbor is shielding our children from these
poor results and allowing them to move forward with their education.
Since the passage of the state budget, PARCC testing has been
effectively banned in Ohio. This year, students will transition
to exams by the American Institute for Research (AIR). These new
AIR tests are far less time consuming and have already been used in
Ohio to test science and social studies comprehension.
Even with safe harbor and the end of PARCC testing in Ohio, there is
much more work to be done to eliminate common core. It is
important that our children have access to the best education and, as
we have clearly seen, common core does not offer that. As we
continue to grapple with the education Ohio’s students receive, we must
keep the best interests of our children at the forefront and ensure
that they have a bright future ahead of them.
Please give me your opinion on this topic and others in the news this
month by completing an online survey at tinyurl.com/buchyoctober2015
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