• Connect with students outside of the classroom setting. AMLE's This We Believe speaks to the importance of every child having an adult advocate. Advisory programs and extracurricular activities provide educators with an enormous opportunity to connect with and change the lives of kids. 
• In Eric Sheninger's blog post Grade Change: Moving a School Culture Forward he speaks to the idea of "no zeroes" and "retests" in order to help promote the success of students. 
• Reed Gillespie highlights real world examples in this blog post of adults getting second chances all the time. I dare anyone to think of a time when they needed a second chance to right a wrong.  
• Utilize a tool like ClassDojo to conduct a real time conversation about student progress with everyone who is responsible, including the student. 
• Leverage the power of personal learning networks to stay current with new ideas in the field of education. I speak to this very thing in a blog post titled 100 Minutes a Week. 
• Provide opportunities for stakeholder voice as decisions are made that improve school culture. In my book All Hands on Deck: Tools for Connecting Educators, Parents, and Communities I share insight on the power of student and parent roundtables as a way to improve the learning environment. 
• Ensure teachers and administrators have time during the school day to share and find ways to help students that are struggling. Common planning time, professional learning communities, and collaboration time during professional development days goes a long way in helping educators to ultimately help students. 
• Find ways and not excuses to provide students with learning experiences that matter. There will always be standardized testing and curriculum road blocks that we encounter. How do we as educators think outside of the box to provide students with the education they deserve? 

• Read a book for 20 minutes a day. Better yet, share out your thoughts via an online book talk using a tool like Edmodo. Currently I am reading a book titled 17,000 Classroom Visits Can't Be Wrong by Antonetti and Garver.

• Follow a particular hashtag on Twitter for 20 minutes. #Satchat, #EdChat, #NTchat, #EdTechChat, #ColChat or #ArkEdChat. Make sure to lurk, consume, share, and reflect.

• Watch a webinar on a best practice strategy or initiative in the field of education for 20 minutes. EdWeb.net and SimpleK12 have an abundance of content that can take you from good to great.

• Read or write a blog post for 20 minutes. Blogs have provided educators a great opportunity to reflect. Two of my favorite blogs to read are ClassTechTips by Monica Burns and Free Technology for Teachers by Richard Byrne.

• Listen to a podcast from the Bam! Radio Betwork for 20 minutes as you drive into work. Check out Jason Bodnar's Principally Speaking Podcast or Adnan Iftekar's E.T.P. Podcast for great educational insight as well.

• Find someone in your PLN that will chat with you via Google Hangout about a particular topic in education or sign up for Voxer and connect with like-minded educators from around the world. 

PARCC is very controversial and has sparked many debates. As a parent, taxpayer, and educator I often struggle with the impact these assessments have on our students, my own children, fellow colleagues, and education as a whole. Here are twenty reasons for and against PARCC.......

Reason #1 (For) ~ Students need to know how they progress from year to year in subjects like math and literacy.

Reason #2 (Against) ~ Schools will be in testing mode for 40 days (20 in March and 20 in May)

Reason #3 (For) ~ Parents need to know how their children progress from year to year in subjects like math and literacy.

Reason #4 (Against) ~ The test results do not come back until late summer or early fall. This timing makes it incredibly difficult to help students when results come back six months later.

Reason #5 (For) ~ Teachers need to know their students' progress, or lack there of, in order to impact future instruction.

Reason #6 (Against) ~ The computers being used for testing will not be available for other students who are not testing for close to 40 days out of the school year.

Reason #7 (For) ~ Schools can use test results along with other pieces of evidence to help promote the success of students.

Reason #8 (Against) ~ Teachers and support staff will be pulled out of their regular classes to proctor the tests for up to 40 school days.

Reason #9 (For) ~ The shift from paper tests to online tests has forced districts to buy more technology and upgrade infrastructure.

Reason #10 (Against) ~ Critics of standardized testing claim that PARCC is technically not being used for diagnostic purposes.

Reason #11 (For) ~ Ultimately the PARCC will have results made available in a more timely fashion which will address student learning gaps.

Reason #12 (Against) ~ PARCC scores are being tied to teacher evaluations. Is this really fair given that it's one piece of the puzzle?

Reason #13 (For) ~ Students are working on their typing skills more at much younger age in preparation for the PARCC test. This will help them down the road when they enter the real world.

Reason #14 (Against) ~ STRESS. Students, Teachers, Administrators, and Parents are going through undo stress as it relates to testing. This can not be good for anyone's health.

Reason #15 (For) ~ Over time results will show which schools and teachers are ineffective.

Reason #16 (Against) ~ PARCC testing is costing taxpayers millions of dollars.

Reason #17 (For) ~ Standardized testing results help people understand how schools match up with others nationally and globally.

Reason #18 (Against) ~ Tech staff have no choice but to be solely focus on ensuring that the online tests are working at all times. What about other tech issues in non tested learning areas?

Reason #19 (For) ~ Students work hard in school preparing for the PARCC exam. This is their time to shine and show what they know.

Reason #20 (Against) ~ Finnish students rarely take standard tests and are tops in the world at educating their students. Why is it that the United States wants to compare themselves to every other top performing country except for Finland?

Not sure if I totally agree with the reasons listed above, but I am glad I got it off my chest. It will be interesting in the coming months and years to see how these new age standardized tests impact the educational world. Let's all try to keep an open mind and continue to do what's best for kids.

Brad Currie is the author of All Hands on Deck: Tools for Connecting Educators, Parents, and Communities. He is one of the founding partners of Evolving Educators LLC. Brad is an ASCD Emerging Leader, Bammy Award Finalist, ClassDojo Thought Leader and Google Certified Educator. He currently serves as a K-8 Supervisor of Instruction and Middle School Vice Principal for the Chester School District in Chester, NJ. Learn more about Brad by following him on Twitter @bradmcurrie or visiting his website at www.bradcurrie.net.