Louisiana Believes

Raising Expectations

• Louisiana’s jobs market is changing: Most Louisiana jobs require education after high school (four-year college or at a two-year technical and community college). In 2011, 28 percent of the Louisiana workforce had a two- or four-year degree. To meet Louisiana’s future needs, that number must double.

• Our students are just as capable as their peers around the country: In part, this gap is because our own academic expectations do not correspond with the job need. While a score of “mastery” or level four out of five denotes readiness to complete at least a year of technical college or university on-time, in our state “basic” or level three out of five has been accepted as a mark of full proficiency. Louisiana will raise the bar from average being ‘basic’ to average being ‘mastery’ between now and 2025.

Assessment Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5

LEAP Unsatisfactory Approaching Basic Basic Mastery Advanced

NAEP Below Basic Basic Proficient Advanced

PARCC Minimal Command

Partial Command

Moderate Command

Strong Command

Distinguished Command

Louisiana Believes

Time to Learn New Standards

2009-10: BESE adopts the Common Core State Standards which have been designed and endorsed by hundreds of Louisiana educators.

2010-11: Louisiana chooses to join the PARCC consortium along with a number of other states across the country.

2012-13: Louisiana educators participate in PARCC Educator Leader Cadre to weigh in on PARCC design and content. Louisiana Department of Education staff lead design and review of assessment content and assessment design in partnership with PARCC.

2013-14 & 2014-15• In 2013-14, Louisiana aligns LEAP/iLEAP/EOC tests more fully to the Common Core State Standards and

participates in PARCC field test. • In 2014-15, 3-8th grade students will take the PARCC assessment. (3/4th grade paper/pencil; 8th grade online)• Letter grade distribution stays the same as 2012-13. • Compass stays in place but value added data will not be produced. • The state will maintain current 4th grade policy but allow districts to issue waivers for students demonstrating

readiness to progress. The state will shift the 8th grade retention standard to be a remedial standard and require that remediation take place on the high school campus in a “transitional 9th grade” year.

Louisiana Believes

Why PARCC?

1. Our students can demonstrate that they are on par with their peers across the country, through scores that are comparable across 19 states.

2. Students will be asked to think independently, not just fill in bubble tests.

3. Our state's educators have been involved in test development, including developing test items and designing the test.

4. The test allows increased accessibility features for all students and more comprehensive accommodations for students with disabilities. Accommodations include videos of human interpreters, closed captioning, word prediction, etc.

5. The state will not pay more for a higher-quality assessment. Even though the test is higher quality, PARCC costs the same as the LEAP.

Louisiana Believes

Key Improvements

The PARCC assessment improves upon the LEAP in three ways:

1. Intellectual challenge: Instead of just basic comprehension questions, the questions on the PARCC test expect students to reason, use logic and communicate.

2. Student responses: Students are asked to explain their answers, cite evidence and write many responses instead of just through a bubble test.

3. Helping students: The format of the test is tailored to individual student needs.

Louisiana Believes

Intellectual Challenge: LEAP

Louisiana Believes

Intellectual Challenge: PARCC

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Student Responses: LEAP

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Student Responses: PARCC

Louisiana Believes

Helping Students: PARCC

The PARCC assessment includes many technology features that support students as they take the assessment. These features are:

• Available to all students, but not required to be used.

• Accessible through an easy to use computer program.

• Similar to tools students would use on paper and pencil tests.

Helping Students: Calculator

Helping Students: Eliminate Choice Tool

Helping Students: Line Reader

Louisiana Believes

Helping Students: Masking

This is an example of the ‘answer masking’ accessibility feature:

Louisiana Believes

PARCC Sample Items

This week, the Department is sharing two tools that will allow parents, teachers, students and district staff experience the PARCC assessments 15 months before the assessments are administered.

Tutorial: This tutorial guides users through all of the features of the online system. The tutorial can be accessed an unlimited number of times. Sample items: These are previously released PARCC items that have now been loaded onto the technology platform. These can be accessed an unlimited number of times.

Please ensure you check the technology specifications for use of these assessments.