Update on High School Fall Block PARCC Test Administration

Posted · Add Comment

 

By Jennifer Keyes-Maloney

The NJDOE issued updated guidance, as well as revised schedule, for the fall administration of the Partnership for Assessments of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) for those districts utilizing a block schedule September 8.

Per the memo, all high school students who are currently enrolled in a high school Fall Block math course, (Algebra I, Geometry, or Algebra II) or a ninth-grade, tenth-grade, or eleventh-grade English language arts course, will need to be administered the associated PARCC assessment.

The PARCC Fall Block test administration has two required components: the Performance-Based Assessment (PBA) component and the End-of-Year (EOY) component, as the design changes to the PARCC assessment that created a one component assessment will not begin until the Spring 2016 administration.

For the Fall Block, the number of units and unit times per assessment will be the same as last school year’s PARCC assessments. The two 20-day test administration windows for the Fall Block are:

  • PBA – November 9, 2015 through December 11, 2015
  • EOY – January 4, 2016 through January 29, 2016

The Department of Education (DOE) will complete state-level activities to prepare for the Fall Block test administration by September 15. After the DOE completes these activities, districts will be able to upload their student registration files directly to Pearson beginning September 16 through October 2.

The Fall Block is different than the Spring 2015 and Spring 2016 administrations because districts must upload their Fall Block student data files directly to Pearson and NOT through NJSMART.

Resources