Princeton High School 10th grader Karina Lieb (left) and her mother Mary Sym braved the cold weather Monday night to “Take the PARCC” in the school auditorium. Ms. Liep was covering the event for her high school newspaper; her mother was among some 50 parents and teachers taking a practice test in order to acquaint themselves with the new tests that third to eleventh grade students in Princeton and across New Jersey, and a dozen other states that have joined the Common Core curriculum, will begin taking next week. Organized by the teachers’s union, Princeton Regional Education Association, and the parent group Save Our Schools NJ, the experience raised numerous questions about the design of the tests, their use, how they will be graded and by whom, the time they take away from classroom teaching, and the drawbacks of computer testing as opposed to paper and pencil. Perhaps the most common complaint heard Monday was that the new tests were so difficult as to set children up for failure. For the district’s “test refusal policy” and PARCC FAQ sheet, visit: www.princetonk12.org/Newsroom2/PARCC; to take a practice test, visit: www.parcconline.org. (Photo by L. Arntzenius)