So frustrated. Still no idea why we as a state are doing this. I feel like a failure as a math teacher. I have no idea how to help my students. I have been nominated for a Presidential award this year and don’t even want to fill out the paperwork. Every ninth grader in Mississippi has to take this test about which we know very little. They have to use technology that that haven’t had access to. The test isn’t normed and the items don’t even have validity. We won’t know the results until October. And then we will have to remediate these kids for their graduation requirements FOR THREE YEARS because every kid will fail the test — unless the cut score is embarrassingly low.
Meanwhile we might miss yet another day of school tomorrow due to snow. And my students have to take this PBA a week from tomorrow. And I don’t even know the time structure for the PBA — how many minutes should they spend per question? PARCC has not emailed me back. Will the computer cut off when their time is up? PARCC has not emailed me back. My students deserve to know what to expect and I can not tell them.
What percentage of their overall math score for graduation requirement does the PBA count? Is it 30%? 50%?
And what will we do next year as a state? Abandon this PARCC ship (which we should have done last summer when we knew the development was 18 months behind schedule) and give our own tests? Written by whom? Will we go back to paper and pencil?
Too many questions. Not enough answers.
Math, Teaching, and Teaching Math 
That is so frustrating! Having finished all of my state tests, I know how helpful it is to go in with at least an idea of the time constraints. That way you can judge yourself and know when there is just no hope for answering a specific question! If I didn’t time myself, I would never have finished important things like the ACT because I would have fretted over every single question I didn’t know!
Thank you for your comment, Addison!
I feel like a lot of my education was wasted on being prepared for state tests instead of being spent on things I actually needed/wanted to know. However, I was always prepared for them in the end. Previous to PARCC, state tests were untimed. I could take notes on the material in front of me, and although I’ve never supported the state test system, I was always ready for them. Knowing that my country and my state are forcing students to take a test without allowing our educators to know how to prepare them is infuriating.
Thank you for your comment, Katie!
Thank you for your comment, Katie!
Fill out the paperwork for the award! (I don’t say that lightly.)
Thank you for your comment, Nicole!