Jan. 13--School District U46 staff presented the results of the district's performance on the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, or PARCC, tests that were administered for the first time last spring at Monday's board meeting.
With 33 percent of U46 students meeting or exceeding the test's minimum thresholds, the district was on level with the state average.
The district fell two percentage points below the 38 percent of students meeting or exceeding the English and language arts portion of the test statewide.
Both the state percentage and the U46 percentage of students meeting or exceeding the math portion of the test stood at 28 percent, according to the district documents.
Ninth graders taking the PARCC math test only take it if they are currently in algebra 1, but district officials noted that more than a third of students take algebra 1 in 8th grade, meaning those kids not currently taking that algebra level don't sit for the test.
"That strikes me as skewing results," board member Susan Kerr said.
Several districts have lamented the challenges of implementing the new statewide standardized tests, which are intended to reflect lessons learned from the also-new Common Core curriculum being rolled out in classrooms across Illinois.
Board member Traci O'Neal-Ellis expressed concern about how PARCC scores would affect the placement of 6th graders "given all the problems" with the new test.
District staff said it is one of several data points used for such considerations.
"I'm not a fan of PARCC," board member Jeanette Ward said. "I think it's developmentally inappropriate and I appreciate whatever efforts we can take to lessen the impact of that test upon students."
geoffz@tribpub.com
