PARCC Technology Readiness Tool

Massachusetts is a member of the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC), one of two multi-state consortia funded by the U.S. Department of Education to develop the next generation of student assessments.These assessments are being designed to be given online (see the January 25th blog post entitled "PARCC Assessment Update" for links and information regarding the solicitations for both the development of test items as well as technology infrastructure to support this new system.)

The March 15 Commissioner's Memo shared information about the announcement of the PARCC Technology Readiness Tool, which will collect a variety of data from schools and districts, including information about available devices, numbers of devices, network infrastructure, and personnel. This information will help districts (and the state as a whole) assess their current level of readiness and plan for the transition to these next-generation assessments.

PARCC Assessment Update

The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) recently released a solicitation for the development of items for its next-generation K-12 assessments in English and math.

The solicitation's summary document and FAQ provide us with a glimpse into what these assessments will look like, including more information about:

• Diagnostic assessments in reading, writing and mathematics. 
• Mid-year assessments in ELA/literacy and mathematics. 
• Performance-based assessments in ELA/literacy and mathematics. 
• End-of-year assessments in ELA/literacy and mathematics.

Massachusetts is one of 24 states in the PARCC consortium, working together to build a shared assessment system that will be ready for use in 2014-15.