By Anne Levin

The controversial PARCC tests will be the focus of a community meeting on Monday, June 11 from 7-9 p.m. in the John Witherspoon School cafeteria. Save Our Schools NJ and The New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) are hosting the roundtable, to which 120 free tickets will be allotted for parents, students, educators, and other interested community members.

PARCC stands for the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers. The standardized assessment, adopted during the administration of former Gov. Chris Christie, requires high school students in the class of 2020 and beyond to take PARCC exams in order to graduate, and students in the class of 2021 and beyond to receive a four or higher on the 10th grade English Language Arts and Algebra 1 PARCC exams in order to graduate.

The requirements have been opposed by Gov. Phil Murphy, but the state legislature must cooperate in order to eliminate the underlying law mandating the exit testing. PARCC has been the target of much criticism from local educators, teachers’ unions, and community members, with many parents in Princeton choosing for their children, particularly at the high school level, to opt out of taking the tests.

The upcoming meeting in Princeton is one of several the NJDOE is holding throughout the state in collaboration with such organizations as Save Our Schools NJ, the Garden State Coalition of Schools, and the New Jersey Education Association. Those who can’t attend can provide written feedback at assessment@doe.nj.gov.

Save Our Schools NJ urges those attending meetings or providing written feedback to be specific in stating what aspects of PARCC tests work well, and which need improvement. Since federal law requires annual testing in English Language Arts and Math in grades three-eight and nine-12, opinions on replacement tests and how they are administered should be part of the discussion, the organization advises.

To sign up for the June 11 event, visit https://bit.ly/2IZ7XAM. The Department is hosting many more collaboratives and sign-up can be achieved, here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/TWM7FZ6