Scroll Top

Lagana Calls Pearson’s PARCC Failure “Unacceptable”

Urges DOE to Investigate Today’s Glitches

Assemblyman Joseph Lagana (D-Bergen/Passaic) on Wednesday called the technical glitches that delayed today’s administration of the PARCC (Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers) test statewide unacceptable and urged the Department of Education to investigate Pearson’s competency in administering the test.

“Today’s delays are unacceptable and I would hope that the Department of Education will thoroughly investigate this issue to determine if Pearson is fit to continue administering such a weighty test.

“As a parent, I’ve long been concerned about the impact the PARCC test will have on our highly regarded education system. This speaks to the core of why I sponsored legislation (A-4190) last session that would have imposed a three-year moratorium on the use of PARCC test scores to measure student achievement or assess teachers.

“The test’s merits are unproven and the administration of it is clearly unreliable, as evidenced today. This delay is disruptive to student preparation and can affect their mindset going into a test, especially one that carries such enormous weight. When you factor in the doubts that were raised this week by an administrative law judge and this latest display of incompetence, it becomes even more disconcerting.

“This only serves to underscore the poor decision-making that went into giving tax breaks to Pearson when the company created no New Jersey jobs in return,” said Lagana.