JACKSON, Miss. – The Mississippi Department of Education is preparing to search for new state testing. Friday the board of education voted to withdraw from the Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) consortium, the group that developed the test to assess Common Core education standards. Last year, a contract with the group failed to receive approval by the state’s contract-review board, and the department pushed through with an emergency, one-year contract with PARCC to provide the tests to students this year only.
The board says they are still fully committed to maintaining Common Core standards, but says in February they will issue for a request of proposals for state assessments aligned to the standards for the next school year.
“The new RFP process will give the state the opportunity to seek competitive, multi-year bids,” said Dr. John R. Kelly, chairman of the Board of Education. “Our exit from PARCC will help ensure the process is open and transparent. Any assessment vendor may submit a bid for the contract provided they meet the RFP requirements and their assessment measures what students are learning in our classrooms.”
