Q&A on PARCC at TWPTO Meeting Wednesday

Framingham TWPTO will have a Q&A session on the new standardized testing at its next meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 25. The meeting will be at McCarthy Elementary on Flagg Drive, from 7 to 9 p.m. The public is invited.

Framingham Public Schools Director of Curriculum Grace Wai will present and answer questions about PARCC, which stands for Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers. PARCC is a group of states working together to develop a set of assessments to measure whether students are on track to be successful in college and their careers.

The high quality, computer-based K–12 assessments in mathematics and English language arts/literacy provide teachers, schools, students, and parents better information whether students are on track in their learning and for success after high school, and tools to help teachers customize learning to meet student needs, according to the PARCC website.

In June, the Framingham School Committee voted 4-3 to stay with MCAS, and not use PARCC.

But in September 2014, the School Committee voted 4-3 to switch to PARCC for 2015.

PARCC tests, like the MCAS tests, will be administered in March and May.

High school students and grade 8 science students will still take MCAS in 2015, but all other elementary and middle school students will take PARCC this year.