Chester is expected to lay out a two-year proposal for the tryout at a state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education meeting on Tuesday. The proposal would require state board approval, with a vote likely in November.Under the proposal, schools chosen to try out the new exams would have the option in most cases of not giving students the MCAS. The exception would be any 10th-graders at those schools, because passing the MCAS will remain, for now, a state graduation requirement.About 15 percent of all students in grades 3 to 11 statewide, or nearly 100,000 of them, will be given the trial exams.In the following school year, 2014-15, all school districts would choose between the MCAS or the new exams, known as PARCC, for that year only. The idea behind the choice is to determine if there is any gap in rigor between the two tests by comparing the results
Two things I am not reading here that I am looking for: the "we're not doing the PARCC, only the MCAS" option and the freeze on the accountability (level) system these next two years. With some schools not reporting out results, and with two different tests in place next year, it's going to be meaningless.
Also, kudos to my colleague Donna Colorio for heading in for the Board of Ed meeting today. With the board voting at their November meeting, we're going to need to watch this one closely.
More, no doubt, to come
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