New Standardized Exams Increase Student Testing Time

Students will be tested for up to 10 hours under the new standarized tests replacing the current Maryland School Assessment.  

In a layout of the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness in College and Careers Assessment released Wednesday, third-grade students would be tested for eight hours and 11th grade students for nearly 10 hours. Every grade level in between will also participate.

The computerized tests are part of the rigorous national Common Core State Standards curriculum. The performance-based component would run over five sessions—two for mathematics and three for English language arts/literacy, and the end of the year portion that would require four sessions—two for mathematics and two for English language arts/literacy.

The Maryland School Assessment tests for grades three to eight take approximately six hours over a four day span—two for mathematics and two for science. The high school assessments, which are subject-based, are taken after the completion of select courses and are approximately an hour long.

A full breakdown of each session time amount for every grade can be found on the PARCC website.

According to the report, schools would have a maximum of 20 days per component to administer the tests to all students, though individual students would have to take both components over a combined five to nine days.

The performance-based section would take place approximately 75 percent of the way into the school year, and the end of the year component about 90 percent of the way in, the report states.

Common Core was created to provide consistent educational standards throughout the country in English language arts and mathematics for kindergarten through 12th grades, according to the initiative's website.

Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly list the name of the Maryland School Assessment.