Peabody Becomes First to Reject New PARCC Test

For months in Peabody, opponents of the new Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers exam and Common Core curriculum have questioned the state’s planned move to the new test and curriculum.

The Peabody School Committee last week voted to become the first school district to stay with the MCAS exam rather than move to the PARCC in 2015. This is the latest move by the School Committee opposing the new test. In March, the committee opted to allow parents the ability to have their children opt out of the PARCC field test this spring.

One of the harshest critics of Common Core and PARCC is Peabody School Committee member Dave McGeney. McGeney told The Boston Globe that every Peabody principal is against PARCC.

“It’s just not going to work, and the more people hear about it, the less they like it," he said. 

Jonathan Considine, the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s chief of staff, said the state is allowing school districts to administer either the PARCC or MCAS in 2015. School districts must decide by Oct. 1, reported The Boston Globe.

The state is testing out PARCC, which was developed by a group of education leaders across the country. After the two-year trial, the state will decide whether to replace the MCAS, which was also controversial when it launched in the 1990s, with PARCC.

Peabody Superintendent Joe Mastrocola said his leadership team agrees that the system should stick with the MCAS, reported the Salem News.

“They’re still trying to work it out across the country. Until it’s 100 percent ... my district doesn’t need the distraction of two exams,” Mastrocola told the Salem News. “If it’s deemed a better tool in a year or two, let’s go with it, [but] it’s become a distraction. Our district has many other issues, and I’d rather tackle those than have this as a distraction.”

Here is previous coverage of Common Core and the PARCC test:

April 14: School Committee Voices Concern About Conflict of Interest

March 16: Will You Allow Your Children to Take the New Standardized Test?

March 12: Should Schools Get Rid of the MCAS?

March 10: Learn More About Common Core on Tuesday

Feb. 27: Common Core ‘Completely Botched,’ Union Leader Says 

Feb. 11: Seven Peabody Schools Will Take Possible MCAS Replacement Test