New Mexico PARCC Tests:What do families need to know?

November 2015

1. What the new state test means for your child

2. What your child was tested on last year

3. Accessibility for students with special considerations

4. How to understand and interpret test results

5. Additional resources for parents

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Overview of Discussion

What the New State Tests Mean for Your Child

PARCC Online Video Explaining How PARCC is Different

Explanation of PARCC from BeALearningHero.org

New Statewide Tests

• New Mexico adopted higher, more focused standards– the New Mexico Common Core Standards to better prepare students for college, technical schools, and careers.

• New standards require new state tests that better measure these skills and allow students to show what they know and what they can do.

• The PARCC tests replaced the previous tests in English and Math and are one of several measures of how well a student is progressing against the new standards.

• Results from the tests can be used to let teachers know where students are doing well or where they need support.

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What is PARCC?

The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers

• A group of states that have worked together to develop high quality tests in English and Math that are aligned to the new standards.

• New Mexico joined PARCC to create a new test aligned to our standards.

• Students in grades 3-8 will take the English Language Arts and Mathematics tests during a 30 day window.

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What Are the New Tests Trying to Accomplish?

• End teaching to the test

• Measure real world skills

• Identify whether students are on the path to success.

• Use technology to provide better information for teachers and

parents.

• Provide opportunities for early intervention.

• Support special needs students with accessibility features.

What’s Different About the Tests?

The new tests go beyond the “bubble test.”

Students show their work through:

• Extended writing and multi-step questions which require students to apply the skills they have learned.

• They are tests worth taking. Students spend time reading complex text, writing well-organized responses and solving real world problems.

They measure: • Problem-solving• Writing• Critical thinking• Reading Comprehension

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What Were Students Tested on in English?

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• Could students read closely to comprehend a range of complex

literary and informational texts?

• Could students write effectively for a range of purposes and

audiences?

• Could students listen effectively for a range of purposes?

• Could students use research skills to investigate topics, analyze, and

present information?

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New Mexico State Test Example:

You have read two texts about famous people in American history who solved a problem by working to make a change.

• Write an article for your school newspaper describing how Eliza and Carver faced challenges to change something in America.

• In your article, be sure to describe in detail why some solutions they tried worked and others did not work.

• Tell how the challenges each one faced were the same and how they were different.

EXAMPLE: 5th Grade ELA Test

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What Were Students Tested on in Math?

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• Could students explain and apply math concepts and perform math procedures?

• Could students solve problems using their knowledge of concepts and problem solving strategies?

• Could students analyze real-world scenarios and create models to solve problems?

• Could students build practical arguments to support their own reasoning?

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New Mexico State Test Example: Mr. Edmunds shared 12 pencils among his four sons as follows:• Alan received 1/3 of the pencils• Bill received 1/4 of the pencils• Carl received more than 1 pencil• David received more pencils than Carl

PART A: On the number line, represent the fraction of the total number of pencils that was given to both Alan and Bill combined. Use the buttons on the right to increase or decrease the number of equal sections on the number line.

PART B: What fraction of the total number of pencils did Carl and David each receive? Justify your answer.

EXAMPLE: 5th Grade Math Test

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Accessibility for Students with Special Considerations

PARCC is a web based test that makes taking this test much easier for some students with special needs. When the PARCC Assessment was created it was done so that several levels of accommodations were built in.

If your student has special needs and has an IEP - please make sure the accommodations your student needs are listed in the IEP well before they take the test. Your student’s school administration was notified of these accommodations in December of 2014.

The Accessibility Features are broken down into four sections:• Accessibility Features For all Students.• Accessibility Features that need to be Identified in Advance.• Accommodations for Students with Disabilities.• Accommodations for English Learners

Accessibility Features for All Students Include:

• Blank Scratch paper• General Directions can be clarified by test administrator• Eliminate Answer Choices• Audio Amplification• Flag Items for Review• Highlight Tool• Line Reader Tool

• Headphones • Text Magnification • Notepad App• Writing Tools• External Spell Check• Pop-up Glossary (for some

sessions only)• Redirect Student to Test

Accessibility Features that Need to be Identified in Advance

• Answer Masking

• Color Contrast

• Text-to-Speech for Math

• Human Reader or Signer for Math

Accommodations for Students with Disabilities

•Assistive Technology for Test presentation or Student Response•Braille Display/Screen Reader for ELA•Braille Paper Test•Tactile Graphics•Large Print Paper Test•Closed Captioning of Multimedia on ELA•Text to Speech for ELAASL video for ELA ASL video for Math•Human Signer•Word Prediction External Device

•Human Signer for Directions•Student Read Aloud to Self•Braille Note Taker•Braille Writer•Calculation Device and Math Tools on Calculator Math Sessions•Calculation Device and Math Tools on Non-Calculator Math Sessions•Speech-to-Text•Human Scribe•Extended Administration Time

Accommodations for English Learners

• Word To Word Dictionary

• Speech-to-Text for Math

• Human Scribe for Math

• Directions Read Aloud in Native Language

• Directions Clarified in Native Language

• Spanish Translation of Math

• Text-to-Speech of Math in Spanish

• Human Reader in Spanish

• Extended Administration Time

How To Interpret Test Results

You may be wondering how to read your students test results.

www.understandthescore.org

This website gives a full explanation and some video tutorials on how to read your students score as well as how to use the

results to help your student get the education they need.

New Tests New Baselines

• This year’s scores are setting a new baseline so progress can be measured moving forward.

• We cannot compare the previous tests to PARCC, because they are different tests that measured different skills.

• Scores may look different, but it does not mean students did not make progress.

• This is a transition year.

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What Will Results Look Like?

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The score report breaks down your child’s performance into categories. This is important because it lets teachers know where a student is excelling and where to target instruction.

How Will Scores be Used?

Test results will help schools to:

• Make instructional decisions.

• Guide teacher’s instruction.

• Identify the needs of students:

Do they need extra support?

Do they need more challenging work?

Recommendations for future classes?

• Scores will not impact a student’s GPA or report card grade.

• They are only one measure of student achievement.

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Thank You To Our Teachers

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A Transition:

• Learning the new standards

• Engaging lessons

• Helped develop the PARCC test

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Resources for More Information

www.bealearninghero.com

www.parcc.com

Where Can I Find More Info?

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Great Web Sites

• Parent Friendly Information and Resources:• Grade level and subject Learning Tools: http://bealearninghero.org/learning-tools • Building skills: http://bealearninghero.org/skill-builder *coming late fall* • Understanding Score Reports: www.statetestguide.org *PARCC version coming late fall*

• New Mexico Public Education Dept. http://ped.state.nm.us/ped/NMPARCCIndex.html• New Mexico PTA: www.newmexicopta.org

• PARCC Practice Tests: Reading, Writing, Math• Tutorials http://parcc.pearson.com/tutorial/ • Practice Tests http://parcc.pearson.com/practice-tests/• PARCC Info: www.parcconline.org

www.PTA.org/CommonCore

PARCC

New Mexico New State Assessments:

Questions?