PARCC Levels of Performance
As PARCC states prepare for the implementation of the new assessment system in the 2014-15 school year, the consortium is adopting a series of common policies related to assessment administration, scoring and the reporting of results. Among these are a Common set of performance level descriptors (PLDs). PARCC states will adopt common policy-level PLDs as well as grade- and subject-specific PLDs.
The policy-level PLDs include both policy claims, which describe the educational implications for students who attain a particular performance level on the PARCC assessments, as well as general content claims, which describe in broad terms the knowledge, skills, and practices students performing at a given performance level are able to demonstrate at any grade level. Using the policy-level PLDs as a foundation, groups of PARCC stakeholders convened over several months between 2012 and 2013 to develop grade- and subject-specific PLDs. These PLDs further articulate the knowledge, skills, and practices that students performing at a given level should be able to demonstrate in each content area at each grade level.
Although the grade- and subject-specific PLDs were formally adopted in June 2013, they will undergo a number of iterations after that point, as data on student performance is collected during PARCC item development research in 2013, field testing in spring 2014, and the first operational year of administration in school year 2014-15. This iterative process will ensure that the performance level scores students receive on PARCC assessments are a valid reflection of what they know and can do and, at the high school level in particular, whether students have attained the knowledge and skills necessary to earn a College- and Career-Ready Determination.
Although the grade- and subject-specific PLDs were formally adopted in June 2013, they will undergo a number of iterations after that point, as data on student performance is collected during PARCC item development research in 2013, field testing in spring 2014, and the first operational year of administration in school year 2014-15. This iterative process will ensure that the performance level scores students receive on PARCC assessments are a valid reflection of what they know and can do and, at the high school level in particular, whether students have attained the knowledge and skills necessary to earn a College- and Career-Ready Determination.