Students in 11 states and the District of Columbia will spend less time next year taking tests based on the Common Core standards, a decision made in response to widespread opposition to testing requirements.
As The Associated Press reports, the decision to reduce testing time by about 90 minutes was made by the states and the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for Colleges and Career, or PARCC.
The PARCC tests are administered to students in grades three to eight and once in high school. As a result of the decision, the math and English exams will only be given once a year, instead of twice. The 11 states involved are Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio and Rhode Island.
“We’ve listened to the voices of all stakeholders—educators, parents and students—and are using the lessons learned,” New Mexico Education Secretary Hanna Skandera says in a prepared statement.
The PARCC tests took effect this year and sparked a round of intense opposition from teachers, parents and students who said testing requirements take away from classroom instruction and put undue pressure on kids. Parents in pockets of the country opted their children out of test taking in PARCC states and elsewhere.
PARCC is one of two exams developed by groups of states and tied to the Common Core standards. The other is Smarter Balanced.
