Although some Chicago schools are pushing back against new state-mandated testing, Evanston-area schools will proceed despite administrative uneasiness.

PARCC testing, which stands for Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, is based on Common Core standards, and is required by the Illinois State Board of Education. Designed to assess students on a consistent scale from the third through 11th grades, PARCC testing is divided into two categories: language arts and math.

PARCC testing was a major talking point at the State of the Schools address, a forum held Jan. 29 by District 202 superintendent Eric Witherspoon and Evanston/Skokie School District 65 superintendent Paul Goren to discuss current statistics and upcoming developments at city schools.

Although both superintendents addressed the topic, Witherspoon was outspoken in his uncertainty about the validity of the exam. The manpower, time and resources spent preparing for and administering these tests at ETHS are “absolutely alarming,” he said at the event.

Despite his doubts in the program, Witherspoon said Tuesday that ETHS will implement PARCC testing starting next month.

“We are choosing to follow the rules because we do think it is important that we try to go about changing policy or rules the right way,” Witherspoon told The Daily. “We have been advocating vigorously for many months now trying to point out to them all the flaws in trying to do this test and how questionable the results are going to be in terms of usefulness with so few states even participating.”

Another incentive to comply with PARCC testing comes with the risk of losing federal funding. The state education board has threatened to withhold Title I funds from districts that do not administer the test, the Chicago Tribune reported last month.

At the State of the Schools address, Goren said District 65 could stand to lose $7 million if it does not go through with the testing as directed by the state education board. Witherspoon said Tuesday that ETHS could lose a couple million dollars as well if they refused PARCC.

“The State Board of Education sent us what almost seemed like threatening letters saying, ‘You’ll lose your Title I funding,’” Witherspoon said. “We don’t like the tone of those letters. We will administer (PARCC), but we will not be quiet about it.”

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