Dive Brief:
- Officials from the Common Core-aligned testing group PARCC are trying to force education bloggers to remove sample exam questions from posts critical of the test.
- The requests to remove online material aren't limited to those displaying test questions alone: The Washington Post reports PARCC has also asked Twitter and other social media platforms to remove references to the organization's tests when the posts link to an article that includes sample questions.
- A PARCC spokeswoman told Education Dive the concerns are around unfair advantages or disadvantages that leaks of current, active test materials might provide for some students, and said the organization is not simply policing against content that is critical of the tests themselves.
Dive Insight:
Nine states, Department of Defense schools and the Bureau of Indian Education are using PARCC in 2015-16, but many continue to decide on other exams. Last November, when Massachusetts' rejection of the exam was seen as symbolic because the state is widely viewed as a gold standard in successful education reform, as well as academic success. (Concerns there quieted, and Massachussetts is again one of the fully-participating states for 2015-2016.)
Still, there has been much controversy and criticism — and confusion — around the future of PARCC tests, in the greater debate about the future of Common Core and standardized testing in general. And concerns abound about the affordabillity of PARCC testing, as states move away from the standard, which many speculate will drive up the per-pupil cost of administering the test.