Dive Brief:
- Last week, Ohio became the latest of 14 states to leave the PARCC testing consortium for Common Core-aligned testing over the past four years.
- The American Institutes of Research (AIR), which already provides the state's new science and social studies tests, will take over its English and math exams.
- In its first year, PARCC's testing regimen cost Ohio $26 million, while AIR's exams are expected to run around $23.6 million.
Dive Insight:
Across the country, PARCC testing drew heavy criticism for technical glitches in its online testing and for the length of the tests. In Ohio, students could spend between 10 and 11 hours in testing for just English and math. And technical glitches like being unable to reach the PARCC helpdesk prompted angry outcry from teachers and administrators.
While many across the country placed the blame for onerous tests at the feet of the testing regimen itself, much of the blame in Ohio was laid at the feet of PARCC and its developer, Pearson.
"I've never seen so much frustration from teachers and parents who are so outraged," Bob Hagan, a state board of education member, said in a board meeting earlier this year, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
PARCC has gradually lost its hold on state Common Core testing. State-wide testing contracts mean big bucks for test developers like Pearson, but the landscape has become increasingly fragmented. Many states have opted to develop their own tests, and more developers have entered the arena. Eleven states still make use of the PARCC tests, although some of those states do not use them for all of the tested grades. That's down from 25 states four years ago. Today, the Smart Balanced Assessment Consortium, with 18 states including heavy-hitter California, maintains the largest presence.