With the start of a New Year came with the start with a new policy for NJ students. As of 2019, the PARCC testing will no longer become a requirement to pass high school in New Jersey. Prior to this decision, a student attending an NJ high school would have to pass an Algebra 1 and 10th grade English PARCC test in order to successfully graduate from high school. However, this new decision ruled by the court changed it so all students of class 2020 and beyond would not have to pass the PARCC testing in order to graduate. The majority of students in New Jersey are happy about this decision, but some still speculate whether or not it was an overall good decision.

The PARCC, also known as The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers test, is a heavily controversial test mandated in 12 states. These states include, but aren’t limited to, Alabama, Colorado, Kentucky, Mississippi, and New Jersey. The PARCC test consists of 2 major sections, math and reading, with 3 subsections per subject, each lasting 90 min per subsection. In order for a student in a high school of the states listed above to graduate, they must have passed both the Algebra I PARCC test and the English Language Arts/Literacy(ELA) grade 10 assessments. In order to “pass”, a student must score at least a 4 out of 5 on the 1-5 scale, also known as getting at least a 750 out of 850 points. The original purpose of the PARCC test is to set a gage for students and teachers in order to adjust curriculum to best suit a student’s education. Since the PARCC was recently taken down from NJ graduation requirement, questions are rising to whether a replacement will emerge or simply no standardized test at all.

The core problem with the PARCC test is that it is potentially a lost cause and a waste of government funding. The NJ educational department spends are estimated to spend $26-$27 million this year, and over $100 million within the upcoming years. Combined with the fact that students can willingly drop out of the test with no major repercussion, the PARCC test is a complete waste of time and gives little benefits. Additionally, parents argue that preparations for the PARCC takes up valuable class time, and can take an emotional toll on students. As a whole, both parents and students question the reason behind the PARCC test, as well as whether or not it is still relevant in the modern day education system.

Regardless of one’s stance on the PARCC, the test had good intentions of making a standard for students and to adjust the school system fully help a student. However, the execution of the test, both in the past and currently, hasn’t proven successful, and only time will tell if there will be a replacement for the PARCC or simply the removal of the test.