LAPS News:

It’s almost time for Los Alamos students to take their PARCC (Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers) exams this year. 

The PARCC window opens April 4 with the Los Alamos Middle School being the first to test on April 7.

School-by-school PARCC schedules are posted on individual websites. Most schools will finish testing within 5 or 6 days with a couple of extra days for make-ups. While the standardized tests will be similar to last year, some aspects of the overall experience have changed.

Here are four ways PARCC testing will be different in 2016:

•  One Testing Window – In the first year of PARCC, the exams were administered in two separate testing windows, one throughout March and a second during late April and May. This year, PARCC will be given in a single testing window.

• Shorter Testing Time – Along with the reduction of testing days for schools, students will spend fewer hours taking the math and English exams. Allotted testing time will be shorter by about 90 minutes, 60 fewer minutes in math and 30 fewer minutes in English.

• Fewer Test Sections – PARCC cut selected questions and consolidated test sections. Depending upon grade level, students will take fewer test sections.

• Faster Results – Last year, PARCC testing finished in May and students received test results in December or January. This year, PARCC scores are expected to be returned more quickly and should be received by late summer.

The District has been working hard to get everything ready behind the scenes for PARCC testing. LAPS has all of the student computers needed for testing, numerous staff trainings have been completed, students have worked hard all year, and we are ready to go.