PARCC Releases Actual Test Items

The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC), one of the state consortiums that has developed online testing based on the Common Core State Standards, has yet again released test items from its 2015-2016 assessments. The content includes actual questions from last year's exams and covers grades 3—8.

A math problem (above) taken from an actual PARCC exam issued last year.

This is the second year in a row that PARCC has made the materials available. The goal, according to the consortium, is "to give teachers a powerful tool to inform and improve classroom teaching and learning." The idea is that teachers can use the items to guide classroom learning and to help students prepare for the upcoming spring assessments.

The content is broken out by grade level, subject, resource type, and resource name. The items included in a given document represent "approximately" one full test per grade level for English language arts and literacy and math.

The same site also includes scoring rubrics for the test questions, as well as learning standards guidelines to illustrate which competencies are being measured by each question. Some of the documents offer anonymous student responses for each of the five PARCC scoring levels to show teachers what kinds of answers earn the various scores.

The "PARCC Released Items" are maintained on PARCC's Partnership Resource Center site.

About the Author

Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • horizontal stack of U.S. dollar bills breaking in half

    ED Abruptly Cancels ESSER Funding Extensions

    The Department of Education has moved to close the door on COVID relief funding for schools, declaring that "extending deadlines for COVID-related grants, which are in fact taxpayer funds, years after the COVID pandemic ended is not consistent with the Department’s priorities and thus not a worthwhile exercise of its discretion."

  • illustration of a human head with a glowing neural network in the brain, connected to tech icons on a cool blue-gray background

    Meta Introduces Stand-Alone AI App

    Meta Platforms has launched a stand-alone artificial intelligence app built on its proprietary Llama 4 model, intensifying the competitive race in generative AI alongside OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, and xAI.

  • The AI Show

    Register for Free to Attend the World's Greatest Show for All Things AI in EDU

    The AI Show @ ASU+GSV, held April 5–7, 2025, at the San Diego Convention Center, is a free event designed to help educators, students, and parents navigate AI's role in education. Featuring hands-on workshops, AI-powered networking, live demos from 125+ EdTech exhibitors, and keynote speakers like Colin Kaepernick and Stevie Van Zandt, the event offers practical insights into AI-driven teaching, learning, and career opportunities. Attendees will gain actionable strategies to integrate AI into classrooms while exploring innovations that promote equity, accessibility, and student success.

  • robot waving

    Copilot Updates Aim to Personalize AI

    Microsoft has introduced a range of updates to its Copilot platform, marking a new phase in its effort to deliver what it calls a "true AI companion" that adapts to individual users' needs, preferences and routines.