Do you have children in high school or younger? Then you will want to pay attention to what the NJ Department of Education did today. Commissioner Hespe released a memo on high school graduation requirements that makes passing at least one math and one language arts PARCC exam a graduation requirement beginning with the class of 2016 (current juniors). Stan Karp of the Education Law Center points out that this new policy contradicts everything the Department has been saying about suspending the HS exit test requirement during the transition to PARCC. This new policy also is a violation federal guidelines set forth for parental/student notification of new graduation requirements in federal court cases. As NJDOEs own Director of the Office of Assessment, Jeff Hauger, said several years ago in a Department paper about the implementation of a new Algebra I test as a graduation requirement: As a rule of thumb, the state needs to send out due notice to the districts regarding the graduation requirement and give them a three year period to adjust. The NJDOE says it will give the tests to students this year, then set cut scores after the fact next summer and use those scores to determine whether or not a student has satisfied the state graduation proficiency requirements in math and language arts. The fact that the Department includes substitute non-state assessments (eg. SAT, ACT, ASVAB and Accuplacer) and retains an appeals process does not negate the fact that the Department is effectively making passing PARCC tests a graduation requirement. The Commissioners proposed policies are inconsistent with fairness, best practices, and previous Department policy statements. There are numerous other unanswered implications, especially for current HS students who will suddenly face new and unproven graduation policies. The proposed policy should be withdrawn and revised.
Posted on: Tue, 30 Sep 2014 22:19:45 +0000