Illustration of teachers sitting at a table talking with logos and Smarter Balanced tools floating around them.

Smarter Balanced Celebrates a Decade of Supporting Educators Building web-based applications to support teaching has been part of Smarter Balanced’s mission from the beginning. We heard loud and clear that high-quality assessment requires equally high-quality support in the classroom to ensure student learning goals are aligned with state academic standards. The challenging work of teaching…

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Watercolor illustration of a teacher standing in front of a chalkboard that says, "10 Years Smarter." Students sit at desks and stand nearby, some raising their hands.

Smarter Balanced Honors Consortium Members and Educators for their Dedication to Developing High-Quality Measurement Tools and Instructional Supports Thank you, educators! As we celebrate Smarter Balanced’s 10th anniversary, we honor your work and the collaboration of hundreds of educators to build a fair, accurate system to measure what our students know and can do.  And…

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Illustration of teacher standing next to Tools for Teachers website logo. Icons representing professional development, accessibility, the formative assessment process, and connections playlists float nearby.

Created by Educators, Website Provides Lessons and Activities to Support Instruction Educators can use Tools for Teachers to find trusted lessons and activities that they can use flexibly for remote or in-person instruction. The website was developed with a commitment to accessibility, making it easy for educators to find strategies that support diverse learners. Tools…

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Practice Tests and Sample Items help students and teachers understand how the test works.

The Smarter Balanced Sample Items Website now includes 104 newly released test questions that previously appeared on the year-end (summative) math and English language arts tests in grades 3-8 and high school.  Educators can use the sample test questions to better understand how Smarter Balanced measures college and career ready content and what students need to know and do. The newly released questions add to the nearly…

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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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The highlighter is a universal test tool available on interim assessments, the summative test, and practice tests.

Familiarizing Students with Universal Test Tools Can Yield Confidence Boost Smarter Balanced digitally-delivered assessments (interims, the summative test, and practice tests) include a wide array of embedded universal test tools. These are available to students as part of the technology platform. Students gain confidence with the testing software when they understand how to use these…

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