System, School Level Data Released for PARCC’s Second Year

Information to be Used to Improve Instruction

BALTIMORE – System- and school-level results for the second year of the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Career (PARCC) tests are being released today.

Student subgroup data was also released on a State, system, and school basis. It follows release of the State results last month.

“The PARCC results provide a valuable tool that our educators can use to strengthen classroom instruction,” said Dr. Karen Salmon, State Superintendent of Schools. “When combined with other assessment data and evidence of performance, teachers can tailor their efforts to individual student needs.”

Mathematics results reveal modest overall gains, while the English/language arts test scores showed little change. The PARCC exams are considerably more rigorous than the Maryland School Assessment tests they replaced in 2015.

Scores on the PARCC Assessment are not being used for student, educator, school, or system-level accountability purposes at this time. Maryland is currently in the midst of reviewing and revising its accountability system, under the new federal Every Student Succeeds Act.

PARCC assessments are scored on a five-point scale, with level 1 set as not meeting expectations and level 5 as exceeding expectations.

Today’s data release reveals some interesting information about student performance. For example:

• Although the percentage of students scoring a 4 or 5 in English was essentially unchanged across grades 3-8, there were some encouraging signs. The percentage of African American students and Hispanic students scoring at that high level showed a small positive gain.

• The percentage of students scoring 4 or 5 in English 10 went up across the board. Achievement by all racial and ethnic groups followed the same pattern of upward movement.

• There also was improvement tallied in the English assessment results for students receiving special services. Special education, Limited English Proficient, and students receiving free or reduced price meals all registered small increases in the percentage of students scoring a 4 or 5 on both the grade 3-8 exams and the English 10 assessment.

• The percentage of students scoring a 4 or 5 on the PARCC mathematics assessment went up across all racial subgroups for both grades 3-8 and Algebra I. All special service subgroup categories also showed improvement in the percentage of students scoring 4 or 5 in both grade 3-8 mathematics and Algebra 1.

Scores also were released for a new English/Language Arts assessment in Grades 9 and 11, and Algebra II and Geometry assessments. These tests were optional for local systems.

PARCC results are available at MdReportCard.org.