N.J.'s new standardized test gets F in South Jersey

From a Washington Township third grader to grandparents, educators, and parents, speaker after speaker at a public hearing Thursday rose to voice displeasure - or worse - with New Jersey's emphasis on high-stakes standardized tests.

Most had come to complain about the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC), a new and controversial exam aligned with Common Core curriculum standards. It will be given to third through 11th graders statewide starting March 2.

"PARCC is a not-yet validated test that is wasting valuable classroom time for both teachers and students," said Natalia Reyes, an Eastampton mother of three, speaking to a state student assessments study commission at Camden County College in Blackwood, where the hearing was held.

PARCC supporters have said the test is more rigorous than the exams it is replacing and will help students become college- and career-ready.

But opponents like those at the hearing said PARCC is draining money and resources from other subjects and programs.

Angelina Chila, 8, a third grader at Hurffville Elementary School in Washington Township, said students need to learn more skills and take fewer tests.

In the last three weeks, she said, she has taken eight tests, including a PARCC practice test.

"I think everyone would agree that this is way too much testing!" she said.

Ginny Murphy, a Washington Township school board member, said underfunded mandates like the computer and technology improvements required by PARCC and the new teacher evaluation system have cost her district more than $5 million, hardly offset by about $147,000 in additional state aid. Also, she said, preparing for and implementing PARCC drains staff resources, particularly in a district as large as hers.

"Somewhere between the common standards and the Common Core, we lost our common sense," Murphy said.

Several testified that PARCC is developmentally inappropriate and confusing, with content above grade level and computer skills that many of its takers will not have. They said PARCC would disadvantage many children, including those in special education.

Tamara Gross, a special-education teacher in Cinnaminson, suggested that the money spent on testing, such as the $108 million the State of New Jersey has committed to implementing PARCC over the next four years, could be better used for alternative programs for students like hers.

"College is not and should not be for everyone," Gross said.

Some speakers decried the value that has been put on standardized assessments.

Jodi Logan of Blackwood said that in 2007 her daughter was told she could not take algebra in the eighth grade because of No Child Left Behind standards and the state test. The child insisted. Now she is looking at graduate schools for a doctorate in applied mathematics, her mother said.

"We have allowed children to be overtested for more than 20 years. It needs to stop," Logan said.

Said Regan Kaiden, a Collingswood parent and former teacher: "It seems to me that the compromises we have made in the name of accountability are doing a huge disservice to our children."

Rather than put more pressure on teachers, she suggested that resources should be put into the problems of low-income communities that feed achievement gaps.

Several speakers expressed anger with state and local education officials for their handling of children and families who are choosing to opt out of standardized tests.

Lucas Trevor, a 15-year-old sophomore who attends St. Joseph High School in Metuchen, which is not required to administer PARCC, said he was in public school last year and opted out of a state science test. He was subjected to "sit and stare," as some students who declined to take PARCC are likely to be - namely, sitting in the exam room for hours while the test is being given, without even a book to read.

If his parents did that to him at home, he said, he could report them to the child protection agency.

Michael Kaminski, a Delran teacher and an official with the Delran Education Association, got loud applause from the audience of about 150 when he blasted state officials, including state Education Commissioner David Hespe, who was present.

If the PARCC is such a good test, why are all children - including Gov. Christie's who attend private school - not required to take it? he asked.

"This commissioner needs to tell the governor that this testing machine needs to be dismantled," Kaminski said.

The study commission's final report to the governor is due by July 31. By then, students will have taken two rounds of PARCC.