In just a couple of weeks, parents will get their first look at the new PARCC testing results.

PARCC, or Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, is aligned with the Common Core State Standards and replaced the LEAP and iLEAP tests for math and English language arts in third through eighth grades last spring.

Data released by the state last week show great things are happening in our school district and that our students are mastering the higher standards. The St. John the Baptist Parish Public School District grew 14 points from last year, tying for fourth in the state in growth and putting it first in growth in the New Orleans area.

Parents are currently scheduled to get the results the week of Nov. 9 and they may look a little different from the standardized test reports they’ve seen in the past.

At the top of each report, your child will receive overall performance information, which consists of his or her overall achievement level, overall scale score and a description of the type of support your child will need based on his or her performance on the test. This section will also include the district and state performance averages so you can see how your child compares to other students in the same grade and subject area.

Other information will include an explanation of achievement levels, as well as a breakdown of your child’s performance into subcategories within each subject. In each subcategory, your child will be provided a rating of one to three stars, with a description of your child’s performance in this specific area and the support needed moving forward.

To help parents understand the new reports, the Louisiana Department of Education has posted numerous resources on its website.

Parents can access the information by clicking on the Family Support Toolbox on the Louisiana Department of Education’s homepage at louisianabelieves.com. Among the resources available are a guide to understanding the reports, as well as sample reports for each subject.

Locally, our principals will be reaching out to parents to help prepare them to better understand the reports. There will also be a PARCC Parent Resource Informational meeting at 6 p.m. Nov. 18 at the LaPlace branch of the St. John the Baptist Parish Public Library.

Just as in the past with LEAP and iLeap, the information from the new PARCC tests will be used in a variety of ways.

These scores will be used at the school level to identify where each student is at academically and to determine the best way to help them improve.

At the district level, the scores will help determine where to focus support for each of our schools by identifying what they are doing well and where they may need additional assistance from the district.

And, of course, parents with concerns are encouraged to discuss the results with their child’s teacher or teachers to determine what additional help can be provided both in the classroom and at home.

Our schools and school district continuously monitor and utilize multiple sources of data.

The PARCC results are just one more source of information that will be used to make sure we are helping our students be the best that they can be.

Jennifer Boquet is the communications specialist for St. John the Baptist Parish Public Schools. Email her at jboquet@stjohn.k12.la.us.