Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Monday called for Arkansas public school students to take new state-mandated tests in 2015-16, the third set of state-required tests in as many years.
Hutchinson directed state education leaders to replace the new Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, or PARCC exams, with tests for third through eighth grades and high school that are produced by ACT Inc., which is the same nonprofit company that produces the widely used college entrance exam.
Arkansas Department of Education leaders said they support the governor's call and will not renew the state's contract for the PARCC tests when it expires June 30. Instead, they will pursue a contract with ACT for statewide student testing for the coming school year.
The state administered the largely online PARCC tests -- which were developed by a coalition of a dozen states and the District of Columbia based on the Common Core State Standards -- to Arkansas students for the first time this past school year to mixed reviews. The PARCC tests replaced the Arkansas Benchmark and End-of-Course tests in math and literacy that were last given in 2013-14.
While many educators said the online PARCC testing program proceeded relatively smoothly and engaged students, there were also complaints that the testing, which was spread over two testing periods in early and late spring, diverted too much time away from regular instruction.
"I have accepted the recommendation of the Common Core Review Council that the state leave PARCC and use the ACT and ACT Aspire, pending state Board of Education approval and a contract agreement with ACT and ACT Aspire," Hutchinson said in a news release Monday.
Arkansas Education Commissioner Johnny Key said in a statement later that the agency will not renew its contract for PARCC and he will ask the State Board of Education at its regular monthly meeting Thursday to formally approve the transition to the ACT college entrance exam and ACT Aspire tests for grades three through eight and high school.
"Our primary goal is for all students to graduate from high school ready to enter either college or a career," said Key who became commissioner in March. "We believe ACT and ACT Aspire assessments will be effective tools to measure how well we are meeting that goal."
The PARCC tests cost the state about $8.5 million, which was somewhat less than the expected amount because so many districts used the online tests rather than the more expensive paper-and-pencil version. The ACT test for grade 11 and the ACT Aspire tests for the lower grades are expected to cost about $9 million, but that won't be certain until a contract is finalized, Debbie Jones, the Education Department's assistant commissioner for learning services, said Monday. The old Benchmark tests cost about $13 million a year, Jones said.
David Connety-Marin, director of communications for PARCC, expressed regret over the Hutchinson decision.
"We are disappointed by the governor's announcement, of course, and will wait to see what the Arkansas Board of Education does when it meets this week," Connety-Marin said.
"We are especially disappointed for the hundreds of Arkansas educators who spent four years working to develop PARCC as the state test for their students. That work has greatly benefited and strengthened the PARCC assessment."
Hutchinson earlier this year appointed a 16-member council of educators, business people and parents -- headed by Lt. Gov. Tim Griffin -- to evaluate and recommend possible changes regarding the math and literacy education standards that were adopted by Arkansas and a majority of other states in 2010. The governor's Common Core Review Council included the PARCC testing program as part of the ongoing review of the education standards.
The statement from the governor's office said the governor asked for the recommendation on the testing program in advance of recommendations on the education standards "due to timing." That is because the state must negotiate a testing contract for the 2015-16 school year this summer. The deadline for signing a contract with the PARCC is July 1. Neither the council nor the governor's office has taken a position yet on the education standards.
Both the governor's office and Griffin, the lieutenant governor, said the council recommended the change in tests for "various reasons, including: the national recognition of ACT; the comparability between states; the minimal time spent testing relative to PARCC (about half the time required by PARCC); and the ACT's relevance to students."
Further, the Arkansas Legislature endorsed the use of the ACT and ACT Aspire assessments earlier this year with the passage of Act 989. The new law expands the list of tests that can be used and funded by the state to determine if students are ready for college and/or careers.
"The governor's office believes this transition is in keeping with the spirit of that legislation," the statement from the governor's office said.
In an interview, Griffin said the council's vote on the testing program was an informal one meant to give the governor some timely input. It was taken by a show of hands, he said, during a lunch break on a day when the council was listening to presentations by panels of educators and others at the state Capitol.
He said that a majority favored the change but that it was not unanimous. The position of the council was not publicized at the time of the vote "because we didn't want to get out in front of the governor's decision," Griffin said.
The PARCC tests in math and English/language arts were given over two different testing windows. The performance-based assessments in which students solved problems and wrote long answers were given in March because the tests must be hand-graded. The end-of-year assessments made up primarily of multiple-choice questions were given in May because they can be graded more quickly by machine.
PARCC announced plans earlier this spring to combine the two testing periods into one in future years.
Almost all Arkansas districts gave the PARCC tests online this past school year, but Little Rock and Pine Bluff were among the districts that received a one-year waiver to give a paper and pencil version of the test.
The ACT college entrance exam has been used for several decades. The ACT Aspire is newer.
Ed Colby, director of public relations for the Iowa-based ACT company, said Monday that the ACT Aspire test has been in place for a couple of years to help measure academic achievement in third grade through early high school in the subjects of English, reading, writing, math and science. The Aspire tests can be given digitally or by pencil and paper.
"It is designed to help students, educators and parents understand where students are on the learning curve in terms of the specific skills and knowledge they need to master to perform well at each subsequent level," Colby said. "If students are not on track for college and career readiness, steps can be taken to get them on track through interventions."
Arkansas will be one of a handful of states to give the tests, which take about four hours to complete, statewide. Alabama and South Carolina used the tests this year for grades three through eight, Colby said. Wisconsin used it this year for high school grades.
The tests are made up of multiple choice, open-ended or constructed response, and technology-enhanced questions, he said. The tests are based on ACT's college and career-ready standards and are also aligned to the Common Core State Standards, he added.
One of the concerns about the PARCC test has been about the security of individual student data and whether information about individual students could be transmitted to the federal government. State Education Department officials said repeatedly that the PARCC testing data about students is owned by the state and was not to be shared.
During a joint interim committee on education on Monday, Sen. Uvalde Lindsey, D-Fayetteville, asked Griffin about data privacy.
"Under PARCC, the state owns the tests, the state controls the data. Under ACT, who owns the tests?" he said. "I understand ACT owns the test and the data related to that test -- is that correct?"
Griffin said similar data privacy standards would apply under the ACT contract.
"I will tell you, it's not academic to me. I have a five year old and seven year old in Little Rock public schools," Griffin said. "I feel comfortable with what the state has done."
"I don't believe the governor will sign an agreement that would violate that spirit," he said.
Arkansas educators contacted Monday said they were open to the testing change, calling the ACT a respected testing program.
Richard Abernathy, executive director of the Arkansas Association of Educational Administrators whose members include superintendents and principals, said the issue of standards and testing has been a "political football" and he is anxious to have the matters settled. His organization is in strong support of the Common Core State Standards but is "not married" to a particular testing program.
"The Common Core State Standards may need to be adjusted and schools may need additional resources and time to implement, but the standards are really of high quality," Abernathy said.
"The PARCC assessment actually went very well this year with fewer problems than expected. As the state will be changing to the ACT assessment there will be advantages and disadvantages. Teachers, children, and parents need to know what direction Arkansas is moving and hopefully the state will stay the course.
"As our teachers prepare for their third different assessment in three years it becomes a little frustrating," he said. "But that is the policy decision so let's move forward."
Laura Bednar, deputy superintendent for learning services in the Pulaski County Special School District, said Monday that ACT is a long-established business and positioned very well to deliver a testing program.
"I don't in any way want to slam PARCC because I feel strongly that being part of that consortium was where we needed to be at that the time. But if that isn't the direction we are going, then I feel very comfortable with ACT," Bednar said.
Information for this article was contributed by Brian Fanney of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
A Section on 06/09/2015