By Adam Studzinski
BLOOMINGTON – The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) exam drew concern from both students and educators in the Twin Cities during 2015.
It was the first year for the PARCC exam. A vocal group of students in Bloomington-Normal certainly weren’t fans of it. Some students went as far as having a rally in Uptown Normal to express their distaste.
Normal Community High School senior Lambert Lee said the 10-hour plus test takes students out of classroom when they could be learning.
“It’s supposed to measure college and career readiness, but there’s no evidence to prove that,” said Lee. “It’s just a waste of money and a waste of time.”
Bloomington High School sophomore Alexandra Cordale said the PARCC exam also creates an additional financial burden.
“It’s a mainly online test and it’s difficult for impoverished schools to get the funding for all this equipment that’s needed to take this test,” said Cordale. “Of course, there are written tests, but they’re not the same as the electronic test.”
Several students went as far as not taking the exam. Cordale was one of them.
“My teacher was pretty understanding when I said I’m not going to take the test, but then again, she was also kind of irked that we weren’t going to take this seriously, I guess,” Cardale said.
What did local school district leaders think of PARCC?
“It’s another national exam and if we’re going to do it, let’s do it well,” said Unit 5 superintendent Mark Daniel. “In other words, it’s going to impact what’s happening in the classroom, not a year from now, but we want our teachers to have that information so within the next, should I say, 24 hours.”
In the end, one million kids took the test in Illinois. Of those, nearly one third met or exceeded standards.
Adam Studzinski can be reached at adam.studzinski@cumulus.com.
