MCAS or PARCC? State Releases PARCC Results Ahead of Testing Decision

By DANIEL LIBON (Patch Staff)

Results for the 2015 PARCC exam were released last week, giving the public a look at how students across Massachusetts performed on the new standardized test.

The results come just as state education officials prepare to decide whether to continue with MCAS testing, which Chelmsford continued with in 2015, or dump that test in favor of PARCC.

In Chelmsford, a combined 81 percent of students in grades three to 10 earned a proficient or higher rating on the MCAS English test, 76 percent did so in the math portion and 70 percent did so on the science test.

A smaller percentage of students earned “Meeting Expectation” on PARCC than met MCAS’s “Proficiency” standard. According to the Boston Globe, statewide, 60 percent met expectations in English and 52 percent in math, with a large range of achievement seen across the state.

It was initially believed that the state would choose between MCAS and PARCC last week but instead, Mitchell Chester, commissioner of elementary and secondary education, chose to recommend a “next-generation MCAS” exam that would use elements from both tests.