Two Different School Districts and Their Experiences with Administering the PARCC

This article and study chronicles two different districts approaches and results of a large scale research project regarding their PARCC testing results.  In the Burlington district all students enrolled in grades 3-8 and 10 participated in PARCC field testing.  In the Revere district, two elementary and one middle school administered the test school wide.  The discussed issues included student experiences taking the computer based test, implementation issues with technology and device adaptability, and scheduling and staffing testing administrators.

In order to conduct this research they used three main modes of research including one-on-one interviews, focus groups, and surveys with the key stake holders in the testing system.  The results are broken down into six key focus areas: technology infrastructure, device use, scheduling, staffing, training educators, and student testing experiences.

The biggest lessons learned are:

• Determining technology infrastructure capacity and the inventory and location of PARCC-ready devices ahead of time is critical;
• School-level management of test administration is challenging;
• Computer-based test administration requires new administration roles for staff and additional support and training; and
• Investments in technology were—and will continue to be—focused on instruction.

Testing the Test: A Study of PARCC Field Trials in Two School Districts 

Study PDF file to view