State Board of Education Reviews PARCC Scores in Midst of “Less Testing” Campaign

The Maryland State Board of Education will hold its regular meeting tomorrow to review the results of last Spring’s administration of the new student assessment, PARCC. The results come in the midst of a statewide and nationwide campaign to limit the amount of classroom time spent on testing in schools.

The Maryland State Education Association campaign, Less Testing, More Learning, has gained interest of educators, parents, and legislators — it was recently raised by a legislator during an update on PARCC implementation. There are similar movements in other states, and as recently as last week, the US Department of Education released a test action plan to review the number of standardized tests administered in schools, and the Obama administration has called for limiting the amount of classroom time spent on tests.

The meeting will be held at the Maryland State Department of Education, 200 W. Baltimore Street, Baltimore. It will be held in the State Board room on the 7th floor beginning at 9 a.m.

Items on the agenda include the following:

9:10 a.m.         State Assessments
The State Board will hear a report on statewide data from the high school portion of the Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) assessment.  This marks the first data release for the new tests, covering English 10, algebra I and algebra II.

10:25 a.m.       State Superintendent Vacancy
The State Board will discuss how it will proceed in the process of permanently filling the current vacancy for Maryland State Superintendent of Schools.

11:25 a.m.       Teacher and Principal Evaluation
The State Board will hear a report on the data from the second full year of the Teacher and Principal Evaluation (TPE) process.  The data was provided by the local school systems based on their TPE plans.

2:30 p.m.         State Aided Institutions
The State Board will hear a report on the state’s long-running State Aided Institutions program and the services it provides to the 24 local school systems.

For more information, see the Maryland State Department of Education.