Archive for 2017
New Smarter Balanced Desmos Calculators Are Free and Accessible to Students
Smarter Balanced prides itself on innovation and accessibility. All students should have the ability to show what they know and can do on the highest quality assessment system in the nation. Smarter Balanced and Desmos are proud to provide calculators that are free to students and include cutting-edge accessibility features. Students who are visually impaired or blind…
Read MoreSouth Dakota to Use Smarter Balanced Scores for College Admissions
Monday, it was announced that South Dakota public high school seniors who earned a Level 3 or 4 on their Smarter Balanced 11th grade math and English language arts tests would receive “guaranteed general acceptance into the state’s public universities and technical institutes.” The proactive admissions initiative is a cooperative effort of the South Dakota Department of…
Read MoreWA Student Writes About the Value of Smarter Balanced
Elizabeth Min, who just finished her junior year at Decatur High School in Federal Way, Wash., recently wrote an opinion piece about the value of Smarter Balanced in Federal Way Mirror newspaper. Wrote Min: “Taking tests can be challenging, but the results give students like me important information to get the most out of our time…
Read MoreIdaho District Leader Praises Use of Interim Assessments
In his review of the 2016-17 school year, Gary Pfleuger, superintendent of Boundary County School District 101 in Idaho, mentions his district’s use of Smarter Balanced interim assessments, and how the periodic tests helped students perform better on the year-end test. Wrote Pfleuger in the Bonners Ferry News: “District wide, the ISAT proficiency rates have…
Read MoreReady WA Video Highlights State’s Bridge to College Program
Ready Washington released a video on the state’s Bridge to College transition courses, which help to prepare students for success in college-level math and English language arts courses and avoid costly remedial classes. Ready Washington highlighted a group of seniors at Mariner High School in Everett. The seniors told Ready Washington that the courses they took this school year helped them…
Read MoreNearly 500,000 California Students Test in One Day
On May 9, nearly 500,000 California students simultaneously signed on to take the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) tests, the highest number of students testing simultaneously during the 2017 spring testing season in the state. Most of the students were taking the Smarter Balanced math or English language arts tests. A May 29 EdSource story states that nearly…
Read MoreWA Teacher: We View Smarter Balanced as a Teaching Tool
Alisa Louie, an English Language Learner Specialist, Interventionist and Teacher Coach at Evergreen Heights Elementary in Auburn, WA, wrote a guest blog on Ready Washington’s Medium channel about assessments and Smarter Balanced. She made two important points that are often overlooked regarding testing and Smarter Balanced. Wrote Louie, “At my school, we view the Smarter Balanced assessments as…
Read MorePA Teacher of the Year: Smarter Balanced Reflects What Students Should Know
Anthony Grisillo, the 2014-15 teacher of the year in Pennsylvania, recently participated in a study by the National Network of State Teachers of the Year (NNSTOY). Grisillo, a teacher librarian, along with a dozen or so other teachers, reviewed the Smarter Balanced fifth-grade assessment against former state tests in Oregon and Nevada. In a blog article in…
Read MoreLetter: WA Businessman Knows Value of High-Quality Assessments
In a letter to the editor in the Bellevue Reporter titled, “Student assessments ensure students gain needed skills,” Bellevue, WA businessman Peter Raulerson writes about the need to challenge students with rigorous learning standards and high-quality assessments, like Smarter Balanced. Washington state’s economy is creating jobs — 700,000 during the next five years — but employers are forced to…
Read MoreDesmos, Smarter Balanced Partner on Free, Accessible Online Calculator
Desmos, which has created a free online graphing calculator, announced its new partnership with Smarter Balanced. Desmos won a competitive contract with Smarter Balanced in 2016 to build an online calculator that provides accessible features for students who are blind and visually impaired. You can watch a video and read about the Desmos-Smarter Balanced partnership at CNN. Smarter Balanced will…
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