Name change for PARCC not enough: Editorial

Asbury Park Press

Show Caption Hide Caption Why good schools are getting bad grades How is PARCC making some great schools in New Jersey get bad grades?

New Jerseyans won’t have the hated PARCC exams to kick around much longer.

Why? Because they’re getting a new name.

Gov. Phil Murphy and education officials have apparently decided that one means of easing public angst about the standardized tests is simply to rebrand them. They needed to do something, because they’ve also decided that the tests soon-to-be-formerly-known-as-PARCC (Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers) will be with us in some form for a few more years.

It’s a cynical ploy, reminiscent of when state officials wanted to change perceptions of the much-loathed DMV (Division of Motor Vehicles) by changing names to the MVC (Motor Vehicles Commission). But trips to the agencies can be just as painful.

Then again, why not switch names? Gov. Chris Christie already rebranded the federal Common Core standards that had been aligned with the PARCC tests with a New Jersey-centric name. That came after a cursory “revamp” of the standards that amounted to little more than a few tweaks.

The new name isn’t the only takeaway from Murphy’s announcement. Plans to reduce some testing times and lower the stakes would be more welcome reforms. Especially important would be an extension of alternative testing paths to meet high school graduation requirements that wouldn’t rely solely on PARCC results.

It is apparent, however, that the state is in no great rush to disentangle the exams from the educational fabric and create a new assessment process. We realize Murphy’s campaign promise of a Day One elimination of PARCC was just a throwaway line with no understanding of what might be involved. Officials also warn state and federal regulations tied to the exams cannot be ignored; the state, for instance, can’t just toss PARCC tests out the window entirely without some form of replacement.

But Education Commissioner Lamont Repollet is talking about a minimum of three years to get the job done, meaning it would be at least the 2020-21 school year before we would see a comprehensive shift away from PARCC.

Maybe that’s practical. But we’re disappointed with the lack of urgency being displayed. The PARCC tests will effectively be on lame-duck status for an extended period. Officials seem to have settled on the idea of tweaking a few things to tamp down the contentiousness and then taking several years to develop a new direction. In the meantime, however, students will continue to take, and teachers will continue to administer, exams they know have little value and will eventually be scrapped. That’s hardly conducive to responsible assessments of students during those years, and if those assessments are really supposed to matter, those will be wasted opportunities in the academic development of the state’s students.

Do these changes represent a good first step? Maybe. Some anti-PARCC observers seem to think so. We just wish the next good step didn’t feel so far off.