The final version of College- and Career-Ready Determination Policy and
Policy-Level Performance Level Descriptors (PLDs) can be found
here on the PARCC website. The policy-level PLDs include both policy claims, which describe the educational implications for students who attain a particular performance level on the PARCC assessments, as well as general content claims, which describe in broad terms the knowledge, skills, and practices students performing at a given performance level are able to demonstrate at any grade level.
Using the policy-level PLDs as a foundation, groups of PARCC stakeholders have convened over the past several months to develop grade- and subject-specific PLDs. These PLDs further articulate the knowledge, skills, and practices that students performing at a given level should be able to demonstrate in each content area at each grade level. The
grade- and subject-specific PLDs are intended to serve several purposes, including the following:
• Function as the basis for PARCC standard-setting in summer 2015;
• Communicate expectations to educators, parents, and students about what types of performances will be necessary at the high school-level for students to demonstrate that they are college- and career-ready (CCR) or making adequate progress to become CCR;
• Communicate expectations to educators, parents, and students about what types of performance will be necessary in grades 3-8 for students to demonstrate that they are academically prepared to engage successfully in further studies in each content area;
• Provide information to local educators for use in developing curricular and instructional materials; and
• Inform item development for the PARCC assessments.
The draft PARCC grade- and subject-specific PLDs were developed and reviewed over several months through an iterative process involving several groups of PARCC stakeholders, including:
• Local K-12 educators and curriculum directors
• Higher education faculty
• State agency content experts, including members of the ELA/Literacy and Mathematics Operational Working Groups
• PARCC item development contractors (Educational Testing Service and College Board)
• External experts, including the Center for Assessment and PARCC Technical Advisory Committee
While the grade- and subject-specific PLDs are scheduled for formal adoption in June 2013, they will undergo a number of iterations after that point, as data on student performance is collected during PARCC item development research (being conducted this spring and summer), field testing in spring 2014, and the first operational year of administration in school year 2014-15. This iterative process will ensure that the performance level scores students receive on PARCC assessments are a valid reflection of what they know and can do and, at the high school level in particular, whether students have attained the knowledge and skills necessary to earn a College- and Career-Ready Determination.
You can view an introductory PowerPoint presentation and review the draft PLDs for each content area on the corresponding pages linked below. Please consult the FAQs for answers to general questions about the PLD development process and next steps.
To provide your feedback, please complete the online survey available on each content area page:
Draft ELA/Literacy PLDs and
Draft Mathematics PLDs
PARCC Grade- and Subject-Specific PLDs FAQs (PDF)