Christie touts NJ students’ improved PARCC test scores

TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie on Tuesday touted the state's state's improved scores on the controversial Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, or PARCC, test.

Officials said a higher percentage of students met or exceeded expectations on the exam, indicating more students are college and career ready. Last school year was the second year the test, which is being adopted as a graduation requirement for high school students, was administered.

“We are encouraged by the positive gains made by our students on the PARCC assessment,” Christie said. “New Jersey’s educational system is one of the best in the nation, and we are committed to keep pushing for improvements that will continue student success. We pursued the higher-quality assessment because we knew our students were well-positioned to meet the challenge, and these results further validate that approach.”

More students participated in the test this past school year. The test was shortened by 90 minutes after criticism that the exam was too lengthy and strenuous.

Last year, less than half of students met expectations while 40 percent of students passed the math and language parts of the exam. About 130,000 students didn’t take the test at all last year, including almost one-fourth of 11th graders.

This year nearly 57,000 more students took the PARCC language portion while 66,000 more took the math portions.

On the language portion, 9th graders showed the greatest improvement, with a 9.2 percent increase in the number of students meeting and exceeding expectations and 8.7 percent fewer failing the test. Eleventh graders showed the least improvement, with 18.5 percent failing, up from 16.7 percent the year before.

In math, 5.2 percent more students scored top levels in Algebra I and 4.6 percent more scored top marks in Geometry. But in Algebra II, more than a third of students failed, with another 22.6 percent meeting just partial expectations. In math, 3rd-graders showed the greatest gain, 39 percent meeting expectations and another 12.7 percent exceeding expectations.

Officials are releasing test results this year months earlier than the previous year in order to allow districts to make changes to their curriculum and professional development.

Preliminary results were released in June. Districts are expected to receive final data and individual score reports by the middle of this month. Parents will receive their children's score reports at the start of the school year.

Meanwhile, Christie this summer has been campaigning for a new school-funding formula that would provide every district with the same amount of dollars per student regardless of the district's level of wealth and poverty.

Christie says the current funding formula, crafted after decades of state Supreme Court rulings, is unfair to most property taxpayers in the state. Democrats and education justice advocates have blasted the plan as unfair to the state's poorest school districts.

Last month, a New Jersey 101.5 analysis found that wealthier districts that already have among the highest per-pupil costs would stand to benefit the most from Christie's proposal.