Posts by sbadmin
Smarter Content Explorer: Easy-to-Use Tool for Educators
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…
Read MoreLetter 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…
Read MorePACE Study in California Assesses Smarter Balanced for 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…
Read MoreNew Starting Smarter Website Launches
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…
Read MoreThree Tools to Help You (and Your Students) Get to Know the Summative Test
Training Test, Practice Test, and Sample Items and When to Use Them Elizabeth Johnston, Guest BloggerEnglish Language Arts Teacher (7th Grade) With all the different tools and resources available to help us get familiar with the summative test, it can be confusing what the best use is for each one. Here is a summary of…
Read MoreInterims + Playlists + Digital Library = Powerful Instruction
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…
Read MoreEducators Gather in Portland, OR to Build Instructional Resources
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…
Read More5 Ways to Make Interims a Natural Part of Instruction
Elizabeth Johnston, Guest BloggerEnglish Language Arts Teacher (7th Grade) Have you used interim assessment blocks (IABs) with your students? Do you use them as a common assessment with your team to identify student needs? Or maybe your district uses them as a tool to review student progress? Weaving interims into classroom activities is a natural way to…
Read More4 Ways to Supercharge Learning with IABs
Tips and Tricks for Using Interim Assessment Blocks in the Classroom Interim Assessment Blocks are quick, flexible tools teachers can use with students as learning opportunities and to collect information about learning. Based on collaboration with, and feedback from, member state educators, here are the top four ways you can use IABs to give learning…
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