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HOW IS AZ IMPLEMENTING THE PARTNERSHIP FOR ASSESSMENT OF READINESS FOR COLLEGE AND CAREERS (PARCC)?

From the National PARCC website, "PARCC is a 22-state consortium working together to develop next-generation K-12 assessments in English and math." PARCC claims the benefits to their assessments are:

  1. "Students will know if they are on track to graduate 'ready for college and careers';
  2. Teachers will have regular results available to guide learning and instruction;
  3. Parents will have clear and timely information about the progress of their children;
  4. States will have valid results that are comparable across the member states; and
  5. The nation is already based on a 'college-and career-ready' [system], and the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) are 'internationally-benchmarked.'"

Are the Common Core State Standards Internationally Benchmarked? Visit our "International Benchmarks" website link and you will find out that in fact that the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) are not internationally benchmarked!

WHAT DOES THE ARIZONA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION SAY ABOUT PARCC?

From the AZED PARCC website: "The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) is a consortium of states working together to develop a common set of K-12 assessments in English and math anchored in what it takes to be ready for college and careers. These new K-12 assessments will build a pathway to college and career readiness by the end of high school, mark students' progress toward this goal from 3rd grade up, and provide teachers with timely information to inform instruction and provide student support. The PARCC assessments will be ready for Arizona to administer during the 2014-2015 school year."

As mentioned on the Why Did AZ Join? webpage, Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSSI) will be implemented in three phases:

* PHASE I- Implement the CC standards at the AZ school district level, and train teachers on "how to teach" the standards. Implementing new curriculum to support the CC standards goes right along with this at the district level. Read more about the "AZ Common Core Standards Professional Development" here.

* PHASE II- Partnership Assessment for College & Career Readiness (PARCC)- Developing the AZ test which is still in progress. This PARCC Assessment will replace the Arizona's Instrument to Measure Standards (AIMS) test. The AIMS test will no longer be given after the 2012-2013 school year based on HB2425 where the AIMS test was "struck out" of Title 15 of the AZ Constitution with Senator Rich Crandall's Amendment. Will the PARCC test be a requirement to graduate? That is unknown because the AZ House Bill for the "AIMS-to-PARCC transition" this legislative session died in the AZ Senate: (HB2047). However, PARRC sample tests are being developed by the AZED which they did previously for AIMS. AZED is working with a consortium of 22 other PARRC states and they are obtaining input from various representatives from the school districts as well. Then all of these PARRC members will develop these sample PARCC tests. Are we teaching-to-the-test which was the major failure of AIMS? Only time will tell when these PARRC sample tests become available!

* PHASE III- PARCC testing of our students and sharing the data with the Federal government and other states. This phase has not begun yet, but yes, data on our students will be shared with the Federal government! What ever happened to the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)? Read more in the PARRC testing web page here.

AZ PARCC- WHAT'S NEW?

For Arizona PARCC updates visit the AZED PARCC- What's New? webpage.

GET INVOLVED

If you would like to Become a member of the "Arizonans Against Common Core" team and help us educate Arizona residents about Common Core, please e-mail Our website coordinator at AZSchoolChoice at cox.net