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PARCC Accommodations-Public Comments Wanted

April 19, 2013 By

Arizona School Leaders and Educators,

Please review and provide feedback on the PARCC Accommodations Manual addressing accommodations for students with disabilities and English Learners. Your feedback is critical and the careful consideration of allowable accommodations will greatly impact our students. PARCC will be accepting public comments from April 18 through May 13, 2013.

The draft  PARCC Accommodations Manual is a comprehensive policy document that will support local educators in the selection, administration, and evaluation of accommodations for the assessment of SWD and ELs on the PARCC End-of-Year, Performance-Based, and Mid-Year assessment components.

The majority of the proposed accommodations policies in the Manual are currently in use across PARCC states. What is different from many current state accommodations manuals, however, is that the draft PARCC Manual includes not only proposed participation and accommodations policies for SWD and ELs, but also information about tools that will be provided through PARCC’s computer-based assessment delivery system for all students to optimize their performance on the assessments.

The purpose of the stakeholder input process is to engage and encourage feedback from critical stakeholders to meet four specific objectives:

  • Strengthen the draft PARCC Accommodations Manual through strong and targeted feedback from multiple perspectives.
  • Build awareness and understanding of the draft Manual among critical stakeholders in states.
  • Encourage support and buy-in of the draft Manual by giving critical players and the public the opportunity to engage in the development process.
  • Inform the decisions of Governing Board when they vote to adopt the  PARCC Accommodations Manual on June 26, 2013.

After the public comment period, PARCC will review and analyze stakeholder feedback in order to make necessary changes to finalize the Manual. The full PARCC Governing Board will be asked to vote on the adoption of the final first edition of the Manual on June 26, 2013.

There are separate surveys for EL and SWD accommodations to be completed following your review at this link to the PARCC website:
http://parcconline.org/parcc-draft-accommodations-manual

PARCC welcomes your feedback on the draft PARCC Accommodations Manual:

  • To share your comments on the proposed accommodations policies for students with disabilities, please complete the feedback survey CLICK HERE.
  • To share your comments on the proposed accommodations policies for English learners, please complete the feedback survey CLICK HERE.
  • To share comments on both sections of the Manual, please complete both surveys.

 

PARCC Accommodations Manual – Public Comment FAQ PDF icon

PARCC Draft Accommodations Manual for SWD EL PDF icon

 

If you have any questions please call the Assessment Section at 602.542.5031. 
Thank you for taking the time to review this important document.

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AZELLA

May 21, 2012 By

The Arizona Department of Education in collaboration with a national assessment company, Pearson, WestEd and educators around the state of Arizona, has developed a new test for Arizona’s English Language Learners. This new assessment, the Spring 2013 AZELLA, will align closely with Arizona’s English Language Proficiency “ELP” Standards.

The new AZELLA will be used to assess:

  • Continuing English Language Learners (January and February 2013)
  • Fluent English Proficient (FEP) Year 1 and FEP 2 students (January and February 2013)
  • All grades 1-12 students beginning school year 2013-2014

A brand new assessment, the AZELLA Kindergarten Placement Test will be used for the placement of students into Kindergarten English Language Development classrooms starting at the beginning of school year 2012-2013.

English Language Learners from around the state submitted artwork to be considered for the new AZELLA covers.

Filed Under: Upcoming Events