COVID-19 News, Resources, and Updates from Smarter Balanced States
COVID-19 is causing school closures, shifts to e-learning, and changes in testing schedules, creating unprecedented challenges for educators and families. Below, we’ve compiled links to national and Smarter Balanced members’ state information pages as a means to leverage knowledge across the consortium. NationalU.S. Department of Education COVID-19 (“Coronavirus”) Information and Resources for Schools and School PersonnelEducation…
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…
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…
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…
PACE 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…
Smarter Balanced Meets Federal Peer Review for Grades 3-8 and High School
In September, South Dakota became the first Smarter Balanced member state to meet all federal peer review requirements for the math and ELA/literacy high school assessment. That federal peer review letter also served as notification that Smarter Balanced meets all of the statutory and regulatory United States Department of Education peer review requirements for the general assessments…
Interim Comprehensive Assessments (ICAs) Provide Early Detection of College and Career Readiness
Educators can now use ICAs more effectively in Grades 9 & 10 with the release of new cut scores Interim Comprehensive Assessments (ICAs) — one component of the complete assessment system — allow teachers to check student progress toward college and career readiness throughout the year. With new cut scores, or achievement levels, in grades 9 and…
Updated Connections Playlists
NOTE: The Smarter Balanced Digital Library was decommissioned. Please visit Tools for Teachers, the new home for instructional resources and professional learning. Over 65 New Resources Added to Valuable Time-Saving Tools for Teachers Educators recently gathered in Chicago for the State Network of Educators (SNE) Summer Workshop to collaborate on Digital Library resources. The outcome? The group updated Connections…