PARCC item analysis
I took a few liberties with the assignment.  Rather than comparing three PARCC test items, the three things I have chosen are on regular PARCC item, a PARCC task , in fairness not even Pearson is claiming the regular items to be authentic but the tasks are and finally I have taken a look at a Smarter Balanced Performance Task.  I chose the SBAC item because after looking at the PARCC task, I had to go back and question whether it was indeed a task, more on that later. 

Item one PARCC regular item analysis:  
This sample item is from the fourth grade math section of the PARCC test.



* be effective performers with acquired knowledge.
This first item is asking the student to apply knowledge in multiple steps.  It goes beyond the what is the missing number type of questions.  So I would say that it meets this criterion.

*present the student with tasks that mirror best instructional activities:
This question is limited to a one answer format, so I would say that it does not meet this criterion. You could ask the student to list three different ways they could reach the goal.  Then you could throw in that they have a soccer game one night and they couldn't read, so how would they adjust their plan.

*students can craft polished, thorough and justifiable answers, performances or products.
There is no requirement to explain, justify or even list the step taken in this problem. After doing the above suggestion, the student could explain why they chose what they did and to maybe explain why reading all of the minutes in one night makes sense mathematically but would not be a good plan.

*the test simulates real-world "tests" of ability.
I could see this being a real world authentic problem.

*rehearse for the complex ambiguities of adult and professional life.
I would not classify this problem as complex in any way.  The above suggestions would add to the complexity as well.

2. This sample item is from the fourth grade math task section of the PARCC test.
  

* be effective performers with acquired knowledge.
This does require more than just plugging in an answer, check.

*present the student with tasks that mirror best instructional activities:
This does go beyond the what is equivalent to this fraction level and it does ask for a visual as well as a numerical answer, check.
   
*students can craft polished, thorough and justifiable answers, performances or products.
The student is asked to justify their answer and go beyond just the numerical answer, check.

*the test simulates real-world "tests" of ability.
Not so much on this one and this is what made me question whether I was in the correct section.  There are not really any times in life when I sit down and compile equivalent fractions and the problem does not supply any reason to except to answer the question. To make it real world you could make it a shopping trip where they need to figure out which would be the better deal 2/10 off or 27/100.  A stretch maybe but if you change the fractions I think you can make it work.

*rehearse for the complex ambiguities of adult and professional life.
There is complexity in that there is no single answer and you are asked to justify your answer,

3. And the final item is from the Smarter Balanced Performance Task section.

* be effective performers with acquired knowledge.
This question requires more than simply following a learned procedure.

*present the student with tasks that mirror best instructional activities:
Considering the effect of decimals on a real life event would be a great example of a best practice activity.

*students can craft polished, thorough and justifiable answers, performances or products.
There is little room to craft and polish an answer here, so no. Perhaps to improve the question you could ask the students to set up another scenario where the amount of decimal places you use is significant.

*the test simulates real-world "tests" of ability.
Interpreting data is a real-world measure of ability, check.

*rehearse for the complex ambiguities of adult and professional life.
I would also say that this question tests for the 'grey' area in life and asks students to think beyond the simple answer.

Conclusion
Overall, I was pleasantly surprised with the three questions I chose.  Granted I could have very easily picked questions that clearly would not stand up to the test, but I wanted to give these tests the fairest chance I could.

To be more valid and to really feel better about where we are headed, I would like to consider the actual performance task that my students did.  I was encouraged and inspired by the multi step real world complex thinking that they were asked to do on the test.  I believe it gave direction to our teachers for how they should be teaching.  The students learned from the activity as well.  One example, without going into too much detail was that they were asked to discuss what makes a vertebrate a mammal, amphibian, fish etc.  The next day they were each assigned one of 5 or six different animals and asked several questions regarding having that animal as a class pet and how they would take care of it.  Rather than just having the students list what makes a mammal the question gave them a very real and identifiable purpose for their work.