Princeton Public Schools Superintendent, Board of Education President and the Teachers’ Union Presidents came together last Tuesday in their opposition to the New Jersey Department of Education’s (DOE) decision to triple the weight of the PARCC (Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers) tests in the evaluation of teachers.

Two days later the State Assembly weighed in, and went a step further to approve by a 52-11-8 vote a bill that would prohibit the use of student standardized test results as any part of teacher or principal evaluations.

PARCC test results, as of the DOE August 31 announcement, are slated to count for 30 percent of the teacher evaluation, but the Assembly bill will now go to the State Senate.

Princeton Schools Superintendent Steve Cochrane, Board President Andrea Spalla and PREA (Princeton Regional Education Association) Presidents Theresa Cross, John McCann and Renee Szporn noted widespread “concerns about instructional time diverted for test prep, the test’s potential negative impact on curricular priorities and the significant cost of preparing for the PARCC’s computer-based administration,” in claiming that “the NJDOE is out of step with the entire country, as well as the majority of the public school communities that it is legally bound to guide and serve.”

Since the first administration of the controversial PARCC tests in 2015, the Princeton community has been skeptical about the merits of the test, with many parents choosing for their children, especially at the high school level, to opt out of taking it.

“Students and educators in Princeton have yet to see any real benefits from PARCC test administration,” the joint statement read. “Despite claims of proponents of the exam, the PARCC score data has not been detailed, relevant or timely enough to be a helpful tool for improving curriculum and instructional practices in our district.”

The Princeton Board, along with many other school boards throughout the state, has previously voiced concerns about the PARCC test, and has unanimously passed two resolutions in the past two years “urging sensible, fair limitations on the state’s premature mandates to use student PARCC scores to evaluate teachers or deny students their high school diplomas.”

The joint statement warned of “serious negative consequences “ from increasing the weight of students’ test scores for teacher evaluations, and claimed that those consequences “undercut the mission of the Princeton Public Schools and this community’s shared educational values and aspirations.”

West Windsor-Plainsboro Schools Superintendent David Aderhold has also criticized the State’s recent PARCC testing mandates, in a September 23 op-ed in NJSpotlight, calling for parents and educators to ”come together to rebuff the politicization of public education.”

On August 3, the State BOE approved PARCC as the new graduation assessment, with students required to pass Algebra I and tenth grade English tests beginning with the class of 2021, this year’s eighth graders.

“The unspoken message,” Mr. Aderhold wrote, “is that the New Jersey Department of Education and the New Jersey State Board of Education believe they can change educational outcomes by implementing a system of standardized tests, data points,and accountability measures. They believe that if you create ‘valid ‘and ‘reliable’ assessments that all students will magically succeed. Through a blind allegiance to standardized assessments, the NJDOE and NJSBOE have failed to provide the support programs, and professional development that would work to ensure that all students succeed.”

Uniting in opposition, leaders of the Princeton teachers’ union and the schools have been working with colleagues in Mercer County and around the state “to make our communities aware of the potential threat posed to our children’s education by this new decision” and to persuade lawmakers to help reverse it.

“We will continue to pursue innovative and effective approaches to evaluation that will inspire our teachers to enhance their instruction and truly improve the learning for their students,” the joint statement concluded.