Only two days after taking office, the new governor of New Mexico on Thursday ordered the state education department to dump the PARCC test and find another way to measure student achievement and rate schools.
By signing an executive order, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, fulfilled a campaign promise to replace PARCC with another test. Teachers, administrators, parents, students and testing experts will be involved in the process of finding an alternative assessment, .
The governor signed a second order eliminating the use of PARCC to evaluate teachers, . The state will find a variety of other methods to use for teacher evaluations.
New Mexico students will probably take at least some parts of the PARCC test this spring, , but Gov. Lujan Grisham is aiming to have a new test in place by late summer 2019.
鈥淭his is a new day in New Mexico,鈥� Lt. Gov. Howie Morales said in a prepared statement. 鈥淲e are going to change the culture at the Public Education Department, so New Mexicans know the state is there in support of our educators and students, not as a police department.鈥�
The death knell for PARCC in New Mexico came in the same week as a major setback for the exam in New Jersey.
On New Year鈥檚 Eve, a in order to graduate from high school. Students in New Jersey will still take the PARCC test this spring, but won鈥檛 have to pass it to get their diplomas.
PARCC, one of two common-core exams developed with $350 million in federal funds, was once widely embraced among states, but has now dwindled to just four鈥擨llinois, Maryland, New Mexico, New Jersey鈥攁nd the District of Columbia.