PARCC Unveils Common Core Assessment Blueprints and Test Specs

The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) has released blueprints and test specifications for its English and math assessments. The documents are intended to help teachers prepare students for the new online assessments that will begin in 2014-2015.

PARCC assessments are aligned to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and are designed to measure college and career readiness. The English language arts (ELA) and literacy blueprints provide teachers with information about PARCC ELA rubrics, as well as guidelines and worksheets to help them select ELA texts appropriate for instruction. The math documents include evidence tables to help teachers understand how PARCC integrates math practices and content and how standards can be combined.

Both the English and math documents are intended to give teachers more information about the reporting categories planned for the PARCC summative assessments. "These materials allow teachers to see 'under the hood' of the assessment, to understand how the different elements work together to assess student mastery of the CCSS," said Wendi Anderson, director for PARCC/Innovative Assessment at the Arizona Department of Education, in a prepared statement.

The new PARCC blueprints and test assessments are the result of several rounds of reviews and revisions conducted over the last year and a half by classroom teachers, higher education faculty, PARCC staff members and consultants, and ETS and Pearson staff. According to PARCC, the documents reflect "the highest quality alignment to the Common Core State Standards and the vision of the next-generation PARCC assessment system."

PARCC plans to continue to update the blueprints and test specifications as part of the assessment development process.

Further information about the PARCC assessment blueprints and test specifications can be found on the PARCC site.

About the Author

Leila Meyer is a technology writer based in British Columbia. She can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • AI-powered individual working calmly on one side and a burnt-out person slumped over a laptop on the other

    AI's Productivity Gains Come at a Cost

    A recent academic study found that as companies adopt AI tools, they're not just streamlining workflows — they're piling on new demands. Researchers determined that "AI technostress" is driving burnout and disrupting personal lives, even as organizations hail productivity gains.

  • AI microchip under cybersecurity attack, surrounded by symbols of threats like a skull, spider, lock, and warning shield

    Report Finds Agentic AI Protocol Vulnerable to Cyber Attacks

    A new report from Backslash Security has identified significant security vulnerabilities in the Model Context Protocol (MCP), technology introduced by Anthropic in November 2024 to facilitate communication between AI agents and external tools.

  • laptop displaying a red padlock icon sits on a wooden desk with a digital network interface background

    Reports Point to Domain Controllers as Prime Ransomware Targets

    A recent report from Microsoft reinforces warns of the critical role Active Directory (AD) domain controllers play in large-scale ransomware attacks, aligning with U.S. government advisories on the persistent threat of AD compromise.

  • educators seated at a table with a laptop and tablet, against a backdrop of muted geometric shapes

    HMH Forms Educator Council to Inform AI Tool Development

    Adaptive learning company HMH has established an AI Educator Council that brings together teachers, instructional coaches and leaders from school district across the country to help shape its AI solutions.