Step aside MCAS, there’s a new test in town.

Known as the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College Careers (PARCC), the test may replace the long-standing Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System, which all students are required to pass before graduating.

Following votes by the Marion, Mattapoisett and Rochester School Committees, eligible tri-town elementary school students will be taking the PARCC test next year for a second trial run.

“If you ask me, it’s a win-win situation for our students at this time,” Superintendent Doug White said.

A small sample of tri-town students took the test last year after the state Board of Education announced the trial period. Schools across Massachusetts had the option of participating and 87,000 students took part.

White spent the past two weeks making the case for PARCC before committees and school councils.

He described PARCC as a “next generation” test. In the coming years, students will be taking standardized tests online. It’s in the district’s best interest to acclimate students now, White said.

The state Board of Education is set to decide next year whether to permanently replace MCAS with PARCC. There’s a slight chance another next generation test will be chosen.

However, White said MCAS will be gone in any case because it’s no longer aligned with Common Core curriculum changes adopted in 2010.

The Rochester School Committee was the first to OK the new assessment on June 3. Marion followed suit on June 4. Mattapoisett School Committee members opted for the test during their June 10 meeting.

The Board of Education offered two deadlines for committee’s to accept PARCC before June 30 or Oct. 1. Tri-town committees chose to meet the earlier deadline to guarantee students will be able to take the PARCC.

“If we wait until October we may lose a slot depending on how many schools decide to take the test,” White said.

Principals reported that students were excited about the new test.

Despite some technological glitches, Sippican School Principal Lyn Rivet said students preferred the online PARCC.

“Overall, the children responded that they were excited to take the test on the computer,” Rivet said. “Some frustration came with the manipulation of the technology.”

Deleted answers and difficult to use tools, such as a calculator, were of particular concern, she said.

For the test, the Board of Education determined which students were tested and in what manner. Two classes of sixth grade students were given the test in Sippican School. Students were also tested once or twice. While Rochester students benefited from two tests, which allowed administrators a chance work out the bugs in the technology, Sippican staff had one shot.

“If we can provide ways to help children practice it would put our students in a better place to take the PARCC,” Rivet said.

Another benefit is that the PARCC is less time consuming for students.

“[Students] liked that it’s a much shorter test,” Rivet said.

PARCC typically takes one hour for students to complete. A typical MCAS testing session spans days and multiple hours.

Sippican School Committee member Christine Marcolini favored the shorter times.

“I love the idea of moving to a test that has a much more reasonable time frame,” Marcolini said. “A 60-minute test is just so much more manageable.”

Mattapoisett committee members were the last to hear Superintendent Doug White’s pitch on June 10.

Old Hammondtown Interim Principal Charlie Egan said some students in his school were asked to take the “pencil and paper version” of the PARCC.

Students were comfortable with the familiar format. He noted the questions were geared toward “higher level thinking skills” than the MCAS. Reading comprehension – a MCAS hallmark – wasn’t evident in the PARCC.

Committee members asked Egan about the impact of technology on students taking the online version of the test. He said it was difficult to determine without firsthand data.

“I can’t speak to the technology,” Egan said. “That might be a hurdle.”

MCAS testing will remain the standard in the Old Rochester Regional High School until at least 2018.