Smarter Balanced Year in Review 2019

Smarter Balanced Year in Review 2019.

Supporting Educators and Students at a Whole New Level This was a busy year—and decade—at Smarter Balanced! We’ll ring out the “teens” invigorated by our commitment to improving learning outcomes for students. And in June, we’ll celebrate our 10th anniversary, when states and territories banded together to develop our world-class assessment system.  In 2019, we released a suite of…

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Top 5 Instructional Resources Created by Educators, for Educators

Top 5 Instructional Resources Created by Educators, for Educators for American Education Week

NOTE: The Smarter Balanced Digital Library was decommissioned. Please visit Tools for Teachers, the new home for instructional resources and professional learning. Resources to Use in the Classroom for American Education Week (and All Year Long!) November 18-22 is American Education Week. Thank you to all the teachers who make a difference every day in the…

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Top Ten Instructional Resources for the Scariest Week of the School Year

Top Ten Instructional Resources for the Scariest Week of the School Year.

NOTE: The Smarter Balanced Digital Library was decommissioned. Please visit Tools for Teachers, the new home for instructional resources and professional learning. From Amontillado to Zombie, the Digital Library has you covered A-Z A round up of creepy, scary, monster-filled Smarter Balanced Digital Library Instructional Resources perfect for classroom use during Halloween week. “Monster” Capitalization Rules (ELA,…

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Smarter Content Explorer: Easy-to-Use Tool for Educators

Home page of the Smarter Content Explorer web site includes a "Welcome Educators" message and a menu to select grade, subject, claim, target, and standard.

Smarter Content Explorer Website Shows How Smarter Balanced Assesses Academic Standards Smarter Content Explorer is now available! This easy-to-navigate Website helps teachers interpret student results by understanding the claims, targets, and standards that are being assessed. The new website includes information about what knowledge and skills are essential for college and career readiness. Teachers can…

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Letter to The Editor: Response to Commentary in Education Week

Testing Consortium Responds: ‘We Couldn’t Agree More’ Recently, Education Week published a commentary by Gregory Cizek, a professor of educational measurement and evaluation at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The commentary, “The Widening Gulf Between Large-Scale and Summative Assessment,” focused on how Common Core State Standards have made it more difficult for…

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PACE Study in California Assesses Smarter Balanced for College Success

Pace Study Cover: Smarter Balanced is Comparable Indicator of College Success.

New Study of UC & CSU Students Finds Smarter Balanced Test is Comparable Indicator of College Success The Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE) research center has released a new study called, “Predicting College Success: How Do Different High School Assessments Measure Up?” The study, which focuses on University of California and California State University…

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New Starting Smarter Website Launches

Smarter Balanced partnered with the California Department of Education to develop California Starting Smarter which launched publicly on April 24.

Resources to Help Parents Understand Score Reports and to Boost Learning at Home Last week, Smarter Balanced released the new Starting Smarter Website, which helps parents of children in grades 3-8 and high school use state score reports to better understand their child’s strengths and areas in need of improvement. This empowers parents to start a meaningful…

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Interims + Playlists + Digital Library = Powerful Instruction

Interims + Playlists + Digital Library = Powerful Instruction. How to use assessment data to identify gaps in learning.

NOTE: The Smarter Balanced Digital Library was decommissioned. Please visit Tools for Teachers, the new home for instructional resources and professional learning. How to Use Assessment Data to Identify Gaps in Learning Elizabeth Johnston, Guest BloggerEnglish Language Arts Teacher (7th Grade) We are getting into testing season and everyone wants to make sure their kids have…

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Educators Gather in Portland, OR to Build Instructional Resources 

Educators Make it Happen!

State Network of Educators Winter Workshop Provides Professional Development, Networking Over 120 educators from across 11 Smarter Balanced member states and territories recently met in Portland, OR to develop and review instructional classroom resources at the State Network of Educators Winter Workshop. Educators from as far as the US Virgin Islands and Hawaii collaborated to…

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