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IMPORTANT:
PARCC TESTING SCHEDULE FOR 2014-15
February 25, 2015
Dear Parents and Guardians of Colts Neck Township Schools,
For the spring of the 2014-15 school year, PARCC assessments will replace the New Jersey
Assessment of Skills and Knowledge (NJASK) for English Language Arts (ELA) and
Mathematics, as required by law. Students in grades 4 and 8 will still take the paper-pencil
NJASK science assessment in May.
PARCC assessments will be delivered online via a computer and will consist of two parts:


Performance-Based Assessment (PBA) will be administered after approximately 75%
of the school year. For students in Colts Neck, this will take place during the month of
March. The ELA PBA will focus on writing effectively when analyzing text. The
mathematics PBA will focus on expressing mathematical reasoning and modeling realworld problems.
End-of-Year Assessment (EOY) will be administered after approximately 90% of the
school year. For students in Colts Neck, this will take place during the month of May.
The ELA EOY will focus on reading comprehension. The mathematics EOY will call on
students to demonstrate further conceptual understanding of major and supporting
content.
In order to provide school districts with the flexibility to administer PARCC assessments as
effectively and efficiently as possible, New Jersey’s Department of Education has established
windows of time during which local school districts are to assess students. Colts Neck’s PBA
testing schedule is as follows:
March 2-6, 2015: Grades 5 and 6 (click here or see page 2)
March 9-13, 2015: Grades 4 and 7 (click here or see page 3)
March 16-20, 2015: Grades 3 and 8 (click here or see page 4)
If you have any further questions regarding your child’s PARCC PBA schedule, please contact
your child’s school. For additional information about PARCC, please do not hesitate to contact
me directly at 732.946.0055 ext. 4107 or garibay@coltsneckschools.org.
Sincerely,
MaryJane Garibay
Director of Curriculum and Instruction
Please see page 5 for additional important information for parents and families
about PARCC testing in Colts Neck.
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COLTS NECK TOWNSHIP SCHOOLS
MARCH 2015
PARCC PERFORMANCE-BASED ASSESSMENT (PBA) SCHEDULE
March 2-6, 2015: Grades 5 and 6
March 2-6 Schedule - 5th Grade
9:00-9:50
10:00:12:05
12:15-1:05
1:10-3:15
Related Arts
PARCC TESTING
LUNCH/RECESS
PARCC TESTING
Unit Testing Times*: Note: A student will participate in no more than one unit, daily.
ELA Day 1:
ELA Day 2:
ELA Day 3:
Math Day 1:
Math Day 2:
March 2
March 3
March 4
March 5
March 6
75 min
90 min
60 min
80 min
70 min
March 2-6 Schedule - 6th Grade
PARCC TESTING START TIME WILL BEGIN AT 8:00AM
**-10:34
Period 3
10:37-11:29
Period 4
11:30-12:00
Lunch
12:01-12:43
Period 5
12:46-1:28
Period 6 ELO
1:31-2:23
Period 7
Unit Testing Times*: *: Note: A student will participate in no more than one unit, daily.
ELA Day 1:
ELA Day 2:
ELA Day 3:
Math Day 1:
Math Day 2:
75 min
90 min
60 min
80 min
70 min
*Unit testing time does not include 30 minutes needed for logging on students, reading directions, and closing-out
students.
Click HERE to read about allowable vs. prohibited materials during
testing, student breaks, attendance and make-ups, and resources to
help with understanding PARCC.
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COLTS NECK TOWNSHIP SCHOOLS
MARCH 2015
PARCC PERFORMANCE-BASED ASSESSMENT (PBA) SCHEDULE
March 9-13, 2015: Grades 4 and 7
March 9-13 Schedule- 4th Grade
9:15-11:20
11:25-12:10
12:20-2:25
2:35-3:15
PARCC TESTING
LUNCH/RECESS
PARCC TESTING
Related Arts
Unit Testing Times*: Note: A student will participate in no more than one unit, daily.
ELA Day 1:
ELA Day 2:
ELA Day 3:
Math Day 1:
Math Day 2:
March 9
March 10
March 11
March 12
March 13
75 min
90 min
60 min
80 min
70 min.
March 9-13 Schedule- 7thGrade
PARCC TESTING START TIME WILL BEGIN AT 8:00AM
**-10:34
Period 3
10:35-11:05
Lunch
11:06-11:48
Period 4 ELO
11:51-12:43
Period 5
12:46-1:38
Period 6
1:41-2:23
Period 7
Unit Testing Times*: Note: A student will participate in no more than one unit, daily.
ELA Day 1:
ELA Day 2:
ELA Day 3:
Math Day 1:
Math Day 2:
March 9
March 10
March 11
March 13
March 14
75 min
90 min
60 min
80 min
70 min
*Unit testing time does not include 30 minutes needed for logging on students, reading directions, and closing-out
students.
Click HERE to read about allowable vs. prohibited materials, student
breaks, attendance and make-ups, and resources to help with
understanding PARCC.
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COLTS NECK TOWNSHIP SCHOOLS
MARCH 2015
PARCC PERFORMANCE-BASED ASSESSMENT (PBA) SCHEDULE
March 16-20, 2015: Grades 3 and 8
March 16-20- 3rd Grade
9:15-11:20
11:25-12:10
12:20-2:25
2:35-3:15
PARCC TESTING
LUNCH/RECESS
PARCC TESTING
Related Arts
Unit Testing Times*: Note: A student will participate in no more than one unit, daily.
ELA Day 1:
ELA Day 2:
ELA Day 3:
Math Day 1:
Math Day 2:
75 min
75 min
60 min
75 min
75 min
March 16-20- 8th Grade
PARCC TESTING START TIME WILL BEGIN AT 8:00AM
**-10:34
Period 3 ELO
10:37-11:19
Period 4
11:22-12:14
Period 5
12:15-12:45
Lunch
12:46-1:28
Period 6
1:31-2:23
Period 7
Unit Testing Times*: Note: A student will participate in no more than one unit, daily.
ELA Day 1:
ELA Day 2:
ELA Day 3:
Math Day 1:
Math Day 2:
March 16
March 17
March 18
March 19
March 20
75 Min.
90 Min.
60 Min.
80 Min.-Grade 8
70 Min.-Grade 8
Math
Math
**Alg. I-90 Min.
**Alg. I-75 Min.
*Unit testing time does not include 30 minutes needed for logging on students, reading directions, and closing-out
students.
**Students in these sessions have unique instructional settings for 2014-2015
Click HERE to read about allowable vs. prohibited materials, student
breaks, attendance and make-ups, and resources to help with
understanding PARCC.
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For our PARCC Parents and Families:
Materials Prohibited in the Testing Environment: According to PARCC’s “Spring 2015 Test
Administrator Manual”: Prohibited materials can compromise test security and violate the
construct being measured by the assessment, thus producing invalid results. Prohibited
materials include materials that must be covered or removed from the testing room. The
following lists are materials that may not be used at any time during a unit, including after a
student has completed testing or during a break.
Materials Prohibited By Students During All Units:
 All cellular phones (including camera phones and smartphones)
 Food
 Drinks / liquids
 Instructional aids related to the content being assessed
 Reference books
 Any resource (e.g., books, posters, models, displays, teaching aids) that defines,
explains, or illustrates terminology or concepts or otherwise provides unauthorized
assistance during testing
 Mathematical formulas and conversion tables other than the grade-specific, PARCC
approved Mathematics Reference Sheets
NOTE: Backpacks and coats will not be permitted into testing environments, so please have
your child dress appropriately and with comfort in mind.
Materials Allowed after Test Sessions are Complete and Secure Items Collected:
 Recreational books (subject matter of recreational books must be unrelated to content
being assessed).
Testing Breaks:
The following are permitted during test administration at the discretion of the Test
Administrator:
 One stretch break of up to three minutes for the entire classroom during testing for
each unit. The stopping time should be adjusted by no more than three minutes if there
is a stretch break.
 Individual restroom breaks during testing.
Attendance and Make-Ups:
Please understand that testing will begin on time, each day. For this reason, if a student is not
present for the start of testing, he or she will not be permitted into the testing environment
and will be scheduled for a make-up. If a student is absent for an entire day(s) of testing, the
district will do its best to have a student progress through sessions/units as planned with makeups scheduled for only sessions/units missed as a result of absence(s). For specific details about
make-up sessions, please contact your child’s guidance counselor.
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No Visitors, Please!
Visitors not authorized to serve as Test Administrators or Proctors are prohibited from entering the
testing environment.
Tools of the Test:
The following are a list of materials and “tools” your child will be using during PARCC.
PARCC – supplied material – printed and maintained (before and after) by your child’s testing
staff:
 Student Testing Ticket
 Seal Code
School-supplied materials
 Wooden No. 2 pencil(s) with eraser(s)
 Blank scratch paper
 Calculators*
 Rulers and Protractors**
 Headphones***
* For grades 3–5, calculators are allowed for accommodation use only. There are grade and course specific
guidelines for the use of calculators, grades 6-8. For grades 6-7, students may only use a four-function calculator
with square root and percentage functions. For grade 8, students may use only scientific calculators.
**There are grade specific guidelines pertaining to these tools. Please contact your child’s school for specific
information.
*** Headphones are needed for ELA/Literacy PBA units, (with the exception of grade 8 in the Spring 2015
administration only).
Let’s Get Them Ready…..
Here are some suggestions for students and families to consideration before, during, and after
PARCC Testing:
 Ask your child to tell you what they know about PARCC;
 A good night’s rest is beneficial to student performance on any given day of the school
year;
 Encourage hydration;
 After a day of testing, talk with your child about the experience; and
 Diffuse anxieties or fears of “failure”. In this first year, we are excited to learn from this
process as well as the outcomes. Communicate with your child how great an
opportunity it is to be part of a group of students doing something like this for the first
time, nation-wide.
Sample Questions and Grade Specific Rubrics:
http://www.parcconline.org/samples/item-task-prototypes
In the first year of full implementation, PARCC staff has worked very hard to share information
about the new assessment. By clicking on the link above, you may access sample questions as
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well as performance rubrics, by subject and grade level. Please keep in mind that as PARCC
staff analyzes assessment results from students in thirteen states, they will provide state
education agencies and local districts with more specific information about performance levels
and outcomes.
Parent Academy for Student Success (PASS): Toolkits for Critical Academic Communications
between Home and School
http://www.state.nj.us/education/sca/toolkit/pass1/
PASS #1 Student Learning with the Common Core State Standards (CCSS)
Click HERE to access the document titled “Overview: Common Core State Standards for Parents
and Families” from the New Jersey Department of Education”
“PARCC: Take the Test: A Very Different Type of Test”
http://www.parcconline.org/take-the-test/a-different-kind-of-test
“PARCC tests reflect what students must know each year as they build toward the knowledge
and skills needed for college and careers. By letting students know they are on track long
before they graduate, PARCC opens the door to college and careers and gives them a ticket to
entry directly into credit-bearing courses. This can save students and families money and help
ensure that they have access to college. In English language arts/literacy, students at every
grade (3–11) must read one or more texts (and sometimes watch a video), write about what
they read and/or viewed, and provide evidence drawn from the reading — skills that are
critically important for students in college and in the workplace. In the past, students have
typically been asked to write only once in each grade span in elementary, middle, and high
school. PARCC measures writing at every grade because it is key to college and career
readiness. In elementary school, students develop critical skills in using context clues to
determine the meaning of unknown academic words and build the vocabulary needed for both
reading complex texts and developing their own ideas in writing. In mathematics, students
must reason mathematically, make sense of quantities and their relationships to solve realworld problems, and show their understanding. Many previous assessments focused mostly on
rote procedure only. In elementary school, students develop procedural skills, conceptual
understanding, and modeling and application skills with a particular focus on number sense,
place value, fractions, and properties of operations.”
Note for CRES Parents: Depending upon your child’s homeroom, your child may be scheduled
for an AM or PM PARCC testing session. Please contact Mrs. Lauren Hums (CRES) for details.
If you would like specific information regarding your child’s PARCC testing experience, please do
not hesitate to contact our building-based testing coordinators, Mrs. Lauren Hums (CRES) and
Mrs. Merri Milano (CDMS).
Click HERE to access the district’s PARCC webpage.
FEEDBACK: Your feedback is important, so please do not hesitate to share information about
your child’s PARCC experience with us. To provide feedback, please email MaryJane Garibay,
Director of Curriculum and Instruction, at garibay@coltsneckschools.org.