State Votes To Create New Test: Hybrid of PARCC and MCAS

By SUSAN PETRONI (Patch Staff)

The Massachusetts Board of Education voted 8-3 Tuesday, Nov. 17 to create a new hybrid assessment test for students, that will combine parts of the MCAS test and parts of PARCC.

All students will begin taking the new hybrid test in spring of 2017.

Under the plan voted Tuesday, school districts that used PARCC will use the same test in the spring of 2016. School districts that used MCAS will have the option to use PARCC in 2016, but must switch to the new hybrid or combo assessment testing in 2017.

The only students who will not use PARCC in spring 2017, will be grade 10 students, who will still take the MCAS exam, a requirement for graduation in Massachusetts.

The Class of 2019 will be the last to have MCAS as a requirement for graduation in Massachusetts.

The vote followed many of the recommendations that Elementary and Secondary Education Commissioner Mitchell D. Chester made last week.

“Massachusetts is a national leader in education, and today’s vote gives our students, families and educators a better measure of student achievement while maintaining state control over our assessment system,” said Secretary of Education James A. Peyser. “I would like to thank my fellow Board members for the many hours they spent listening to public comment and reviewing materials over the last six months.

“I am grateful to the Board for their thoughtful review of my recommendation and of all of the input and materials they received,” Commissioner Chester said. “Their vote paves the way to a next-generation assessment that will be a better reflection of student achievement and, at the high school level, of readiness for college and a career.”

The MCAS tests in spring 2016 will be augmented with a limited number of PARCC items in order to help make statewide comparisons easier and to offer students and staff the opportunity to experience PARCC items while the new assessment is being developed.

As a result of the vote, the state will:

• Award a new MCAS contract to include a next-generation assessment for English language arts and math using both PARCC items and items specific to Massachusetts.
• Commit to computer-based state assessments with the goal of implementing this statewide by spring 2019.
• Remain a member of the PARCC consortium with access to high-quality assessment development, cost- sharing with other states and the ability to compare next-generation MCAS results with those of other states’ assessments.
• Convene groups of K-12 teachers, higher education faculty and assessment experts to advise ESE on the content, length and scheduling of statewide tests; testing policies for students with disabilities and for English language learners; the requirements for the high school competency determination (currently the 10th grade MCAS); and the timeline for reinstating a history and social science test.

Any districts that administer PARCC in spring 2016 will not be penalized for any negative changes in their school and district accountability levels, a policy which is a continuation of the state’s approach to districts that used PARCC in spring 2015. The board also voted to hold all districts harmless on the basis of test scores in 2017, when all of the state’s districts would use a single test.

Parents of children who took PARCC in spring 2015 will receive their child’s test scores in late November or early December.

The state will release accountability determinations for schools and districts in December.