Many School Districts Choose PARCC Over MCAS Test

Changes are coming in standardized testing for many Massachusetts school districts.

According to data from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, 54 percent of school districts have opted to administer the English and mathematics PARCC exams to students in grades 3-8 next year, instead of the MCAS exams.

PARCC, short for Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, was developed as part of the national Common Core standards.

This was the first time school systems were given the choice of which test to administer in grades 3-8.

But MCAS isn't going away immediately. Passing the 10th-grade MCAS exams in English, math, and science and technology remain a graduation requirement. All school districts must also continue to administer the MCAS science and technology to fifth- and eighth-graders.