Demi Glusic

The PARCC test, taken by freshman last school year, is meant to track a student’s readiness for college.

Test results have been released for PARCC, a test all LHS freshmen took part in last school year.

The PARCC (Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers) is a test designed to evaluate one’s college readiness by testing their knowledge on Common Core standards. These are standards adopted by many states nationwide that outline what a student should know, or be able to do, at a certain grade level.

Recently, PARCC administrators released Illinois’s test results. The results were beyond disappointing to the Illinois State Board of Education.

The Illinois State Board of Education commented in a press release that “only 17 percent of students met or exceeded expectations in math and 31 percent passed in English.”

These stats were only for current high school students who took the test, not for those who were under high-school age.

“Please let everyone in your communities know that we fully expect results to improve as teachers and students become more familiar with the higher standards,” said Tony Smith, the State Superintendent of Education, on a conference call with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

If the PARCC test is setting the new standards, students will have to work extra hard to meet them.

According to Dr. Rita Fischer, the Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction for District 128, districts in Illinois have not yet received individual school results.

District 128 Superintendent Dr. Prentiss Lea stated that the test results were incomplete and they do “not provide detailed data regarding how District 128, Libertyville and Vernon Hills High School students performed on PARCC.”

The future of the PARCC being held in Illinois high schools is right now unknown. According to a letter posted online from District 128, the state is having trouble providing funds for tests such as this one at the moment due to state budget cuts.

Though in order to fulfill state requirements, a letter posted on District 128’s website explained that the Illinois State Board of Education once again “plans to administer PARCC tests to high school students this spring if the state budget permits.”

Last school year, the test was taken in two parts. Part one was held in early March of this year, while the second part was held later in the spring, during the month of May.

While this test is now behind most sophomores who took it, it is now making its way back into the students’ lives as results are starting to be released.

As of now, this test´s fate is hanging in the air, but the district stated on an online letter  that they “are following developments very carefully and are willing to remain flexible so as to develop solutions that are most beneficial to [their] students.”