PARCC tests are imperfect but vital
For students, the road to success begins with knowing where they’re starting from
My students just finished championship week — and not for athletics.
It marked the second, and final, week of standardized testing in our rural high school. For me, that means that after about a dozen hours of test administration, or about two days of our 180 days of school, all of my students have conquered ELA PARCC for the year.
I teach grades 9-11 and seniors in Advanced Placement. At my school we like to win, and I like to coach my students to a victory.
Championship week can be a stressful time for students and teachers. We practice, and we’re ready, but we still get butterflies before the game. That’s how it should be for something important. We want to do our best.
Last week was a chance for my students to show off their hard work. All year long they have studied big questions like “What is the relationship between censorship and war?” and “What is the American Dream and in what ways is it still relevant?” through texts and writing. It has been an awesome “season.”
With that, the suggestion of scrapping our state’s assessment system without an alternative that would satisfy mandates of federal law makes me incredibly nervous, and that some of our state’s leaders would flirt with that idea from the sidelines during championship week makes me feel disheartened.
We may still need to engage in the never-ending pursuit in search for a test that best fits New Mexican students’ needs, but we cannot afford to take an indefinite break from collecting student data or holding teachers accountable for providing students with the education they deserve. This is a fight for our students’ futures, and we must compete with the quality education that my students’ counterparts in other schools, other districts and other states are surely receiving. It may not be perfect, but PARCC has given me valuable insights to better prepare my students for their futures.
Frustratingly, there has been an air of negativity surrounding student data. The NMTEACH evaluation system has been deemed punitive by some, and the weight of it has felt very real. It’s weight that I know I have felt — it’s important to note that student data no longer accounts for 50 percent of evaluations and has been reduced to 35 percent — but as a new teacher, student data, even when it is less than ideal, does not carry a negative connotation for me. Data is a tool that highlights our shared responsibility. Assessments are an opportunity to find out what we’ve done well and what we can do better.
I know where my students can end up and that each of them has the capacity to change the world. They are innovators, creatives and activists. They are leaving the classroom and going into medicine, agriculture, politics, mechanics, business, and yes, education. My students are much more than numbers, but it is difficult to get to any given destination if one is unsure of where they are starting from.
Every year goes more quickly than the last, and I cannot afford to lose time guessing at what they need. They are going to go out into our state and use their talents and knowledge to give to our communities. They will leave high school and they will read, write, speak and vote.
I need to make smart instructional choices. I need to capitalize on the time I have with them, and scrapping our assessment system, jeopardizing funding, altering our ESSA plan, and taking a yearslong break will help me do neither. My team is already getting ready for championship week next year.