Budget Amendment ID: FY2015-S4-462-R1

Redraft EDU 462

PARCC Cost-Benefit Analysis

Messrs. Tarr, Hedlund and Ross and Ms. Lovely moved that the proposed new text be amended moved that the bill be amended by inserting, after section__, the following new section:-

“SECTION__. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the state auditor, in consultation with the commissioner of the department of elementary and secondary education, the secretary of administration and finance, the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents, and the Massachusetts Association of School Committees, shall analyze the Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Career (PARCC) tests, and report any preliminary findings to the house and senate committees on ways and means and the clerks of the house and senate by no later than September 1, 2014 and submit a report with recommendations on or before June 30, 2015 that includes, but is not limited to, the following: (a) the informational technology upgrade costs required to give school districts the ability to use PARCC tests; (b) the cost of professional development for educators in the commonwealth to administer the PARCC tests; (c) the aggregate and per-student cost of administering the current tests for the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System; (d) the aggregate and per-student cost of administering the tests for the PARCC; (e) the expected ongoing cost of supporting enhanced technology infrastructure required for online assessments; (f) the impact the online assessments will have on school districts that are not currently equipped to administer such assessments; (g) whether the increased costs of administering online assessments constitutes an unfunded mandate on school districts; and (h) a comprehensive cost-benefit analysis of the adoption and implementation of the PARCC online assessments.”