I’m a junior in NJ. I was planning to opt out of the PARCC, but my dad is convinced that if I don’t take the PARCC, then it will affect my college admissions, because I don’t have a score.
I’m trying to convince him otherwise, but what I say has no bearing. I need proof. Can I get sites that will help me argue my point? And if you find sites that argue my dad’s point, then can I see that, too?
Also, my dad told me that some colleges (including Ivy League colleges) agreed to use the PARCC scores for admissions. I tried looking this up, but I can’t find anything. Can anyone clarify this?
Why don’t you ask your GC and let him/her settle it. I think you’re dad is completely incorrect, BTW. the PARCC isn’t universal by any means – why should any national college invest time in even understanding what its metrics say when they have perfectly good stats elsewhere (transcript, ACT/SAT)?
Sounds like your dad has been listening to some incorrect ppl.
It says: "The PARCC assessment measures real world skills that colleges value, like critical thinking and problem solving. That’s why all of New Jersey’s public two- and four-year colleges and universities have committed to participate in PARCC. They helped develop the assessments to ensure that it measures college readiness.
{New Jersey’s college and universities will use those assessments as one of the indicators of a student’s readiness for entry-level, credit-bearing college courses} – and because these institutions educate every freshman entering public colleges and universities in New Jersey, we’re ensuring that our students succeed."
Can anyone tell me what this means? It goes against common sense to use PARCC scores in admissions!
Most of that blather about “real world skills that colleges value” is to make parents and students feel positive about taking the test. Perhaps in future years, PARCC scores will be used in NJ instead of ACT or SAT scores (and surely that is the hope of the exam manufacturer), but no one in their right mind would do that for several years. The exam is new, and it will take a while for meaningful scores to be produced. I don’t know a single teacher who expects their students to do well on the PARCC. This is the first year for the exam and the testing model is new for everyone except those few students who took pilot versions in previous years.
The PARCC is intended to evaluate whether or not schools are doing a good job in teaching the subject matter that comprises the Common Core. It has precious little to do with any individual student, but rather it has to do with the teacher and the school district. The teachers and the district are the ones who will be in trouble in future years if the students don’t perform well on the exam.
Total marketing speak. Your dad must have been listening to the wrong side of 101.5!!!
No one is going to hold your PARCC against you in college admissions, especially with all the blabber and controversy behind it. Worry about your SAT/ACT and your grades. You can talk to your GC about it and possibly get him to convince your dad that the PARCC will not be used.
“{New Jersey’s college and universities will use those assessments as one of the indicators of a student’s readiness for entry-level, credit-bearing college courses} – and because these institutions educate every freshman entering public colleges and universities in New Jersey, we’re ensuring that our students succeed.”
This basically means that they will use these assessments to gauge an idea of how ready you are for college. I honestly think it’s a load of crap since it just uses Common Core and Common Core performance (just like SAT/ACT performance) does not define the student. The schools will use the PARCC to compare the students in each district on a state level.
I thought it sounded off, but I was skeptical they would try to promote a government mandated test like that. I guess they WILL market a test if they have to
Hopefully I can knock some sense in my dad. Thanks, all of you!
I doubt any admissions official takes the PARCC and its predecessor, the HSPA, seriously. I was never asked for my HSPA scores (nor do I remember them).
Testing firms (like the PARCC, College Board and ACT) exist to make money. I’m sure the PARCC lobbyists hail the utility of their tests over the others like ACT and SAT – many states use one of THOSE common tests as the state evaluation test. Did you know that? In my home state for many years, EVERY junior takes the ACT (at no addit cost to them) and the numbers are crunched and analyzed. Of course, they can also be sent to colleges.
Guess what? The contract came up again and the College Board people made an aggressive bid. It’s going to cost the state $50 Million less to begin instituting the SAT vs. the old ACT. Now ACT is going bye bye and next year, juniors will be taking the SAT.
At least we have this over NJ and those who decided to use the PARCC, both the ACT and the SAT can be used elsewhere – unlike your dead-end test. Why don’t you research and find out how much the state of NJ pays PARCC each year to administer their fabulous test. Then give THOSE results to your skeptical dad.
@T26E4 Wow. This makes a lot of sense. Thanks so much for your input. It’s so sad how education is so entangled with business though. It’s even sadder that NJ just had to choose one of the most bizarre standardized test there is.
@mikemac I’m sorry if this came off the wrong way. My dad is a very good dad, and I have a lot to thank him for. With that said, you and I both know parents can be unreasonable, and they can have a hard time yielding to their children, whether they are right or wrong. If I came off bitter, it’s because when I was telling him what my teachers had told me about the PARCC, he disputed me as if I was an idiot. Well, he asked for proof, I’ll give him proof. Let’s hope if works.
@T26E4 Also, I just realized that, on top of making everyone take the PARCC, our state makes HS students take the PSAT every year and then the SAT during senior year, at no added cost.
This whole thing could have been avoided if we used the PSAT/SAT for our evaluation. This makes no sense at all.
Actually I can understand where you’re coming from. And maybe you have to try it your way just to see. But if you want some advice from someone who’s been around the block a few times…
Jared Diamond, author of a book on negotiation “Getting More” says
To me, it sounds like this is where you are. It’s not about the facts, you’re probably right about this test, but in the end your goal is the relationship you have with your dad. At least IMHO it ought to be, anyway. Is it more important to be right here? Well, maybe it is, you don’t want to take that test. My point is that there are many ways to try to accomplish your goal, and trying to cram “facts” down his throat is not the approach most likely to succeed. Furthermore it may crash in a way you later regret.
That book, BTW, gives some alternative approaches you may wish to consider. You can see a brief presentation of his ideas (not a replacement for reading the book, but a peek) at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOZo6Lx70ok
There’s something to be said about being cunning and strategic instead of dogmatic and unyielding in dealing with people in power (eg. parents). Think it over, do what you think is best.
The PARCC exam is designed specifically to evaluate whether or not students are learning the material in Common Core. Whether or not it will eventually replace the PSAT and SAT for whatever random purposes your school district is using those exams remains to be seen. If you want to know why your district asks you to take any test, it really, truly, is OK for you to ask. This is public record stuff. They have to tell you.
