The introduction of PARCC testing this year, named for Partnership for the Assessment of College and Career Readiness, has been met with grievous reactions from many students, teachers, and parents alike. However, unlike typical standardized testing, which is considered far from enjoyable but necessary, PARCC has been found by few as meditated and is considered by many, essentially a waste of valuable time. According to a survey conducted by the Washington-based Mellman Group, “81 percent of parents and 78 percent of voters think tests aren’t a good measure of individual students.” These harsh numbers reflect only a small fraction of the issues PARCC testing presents. From its disastrous beginnings, to its blaring uselessness and mismatched grade-level content, the PARCC is to be regarded as a massive, unforgiving stain on American public education

The PARCC roll out this past and ongoing year could not have possibly gone worse and has been the main cause of its overwhelmingly poor reception. Introducing a new mentality regarding education and learning against the will of the majority of educators has not gone over well with the masses. Until this point, students have been traditionally taught in a manner  in which they are first informed by teachers and then work on their own to learn further using the tools they were given first. PARCC offers a completely new process in which students work first to reach a conclusion and the teacher’s role is as an aid to the students as they work solo or amongst themselves. Although this mentality may be one day considered a positive breakthrough in education; at this time, however, it is completely unprecedented and impractical. Reporter Stan Karp, a reporter for The Record wrote, “Raising standards without providing—or even identifying—the resources needed to deliver them sets schools and students up for failure instead of success.” Students have been conditioned throughout their entire education to learn in a certain manner. By introducing a new test that requires following a completely different set of rules, student’s intelligence is being greatly undermined. If this test is ever to be considered successful, students must be taught from the beginning of their education to think as the test requires. This mandates completely transforming common teaching methods that have been proven successful for years into something completely foreign.

Not only does PARCC prep and testing eat into teacher’s instruction time, but is inappropriate for students academically. Some who have taken the test believe that it is testing information traditionally taught at a level two to three years older than then the actual individual being testing. This means that a 15-year-old student could be evaluated on material taught to 18 year olds. Students are being assessed using material that in a traditional classroom setting would not be expected to retain for two to three more years. According to The Record reporter Hannan Adely, “An opted-out sophomore at Ridgefield Memorial High School stated that she currently has a 3.7 GPA and yet when she took the practice tests she scored poorly, only reinforcing her decision to not take the test.” By evaluating students on a myriad of useless knowledge, completely irrelevant to their current life, the PARCC is only acting as an obstacle used to lower student morality.

Adding to its negative perception, a great number of people have gained the perception that the PARCC test is useless. The results of this year’s PARCC test will in no way affect students. The Record Reporter Hannan Adely discussed this in her article, “Students’ grade on new tests is incomplete,” published March 3,2015. In fact the test will not impact any student who decides to participate or opt-out until 2019 when it will become a graduation requirement for Juniors. At Northern Highlands Regional High School approximately 500 of 1,400 decided against testing. This information has been wide-spread amongst students, resulting in mass opt-outs in many towns. Stated in Adely’s article, Ridgefield’s Romano commented on students’ decision to opt-out saying, “There was a clear message that you don’t have to take the tests and there is no individual impact, just an impact on the district.” Students, already preoccupied with heavy coursework and extra-curriculars, have little reason to pursue participation in the test as it in no way benefits them. As of now, the test’s results reflect only the town’s schools. However with so many students choosing not to test, data retained from scores hold little accuracy as to a school’s proficiency.

Already faced with mounting piles of homework, hours of extracurriculars, clubs, sports, and jobs, top students never cease searching for new ways to improve their resumes. Despite their apparently full schedule it seems that kids today never stop signing up for new activities while attending classes of prestigious caliber. In terms of testing, it is extremely common for many to attend preparatory classes outside of school in order to achieve an even higher score on standardized testing, including the PSATS, SATS, and AP Testing. Despite many students’ overwhelming urge to consistently do better and participate in more in order to achieve beyond what was previously conceived by the human mind, PARCC has been left out in the cold. With students’ determination to succeed out of the question, exactly why the test is so unpopular is a question for many. However, the answer is clear: the PARCC not only is useless but an evident piece of hardcore mismanagement. The test was improperly introduced to the public, presented as being utterly useless in a student’s success, and completely inappropriate for students. The PARCC needs to be recalled immediately in order to preserve the integrity of public education and accurately educate the students of the United States.