Smarter Updates

Learn more about Smarter Balanced’s latest assessment resources and releases, and updates around supports available to schools, districts, and member states.

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.

Smarter Balanced Launches Tools for Teachers

Created by Educators, Website Provides Lessons and Activities to Support Instruction Santa Clara, Calif. (September 30, 2020) — Smarter Balanced announced the grand opening of Tools for Teachers, an easy-to-use website featuring standards-aligned lessons and strategies designed by educators to save teachers time and boost student learning.  Educators can use Tools for Teachers to find trusted lessons and…

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Magda Chia, PhD., rejoins Smarter Balanced as Chief Strategy Officer October 15, 2020.

Smarter Balanced Hires Chief Strategy Officer

Dr. Magda Chia Returns to Smarter Balanced Santa Clara, Calif. (September 10, 2020) — Smarter Balanced is pleased to announce the hiring of Dr. Magda Chia as our new Chief Strategy Officer. A former teacher, Chia served as a founding staff member of Smarter Balanced and specializes in the relationship between cultural and linguistic diversity and…

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Cover of the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium "2020 Bach to School Assessment Playbook: Using the Smarter Balanced Assessment System to Improve Student Learning." The cover features the outline of a student sitting cross-legged with a computer in their lap.

Smarter Balanced Releases Back to School Assessment Playbook

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (July 23, 2020) – Smarter Balanced released the Back to School Assessment Playbook, which offers educators in Smarter Balanced member states guidance and recommendations regarding how they can use the new Tools for Teachers website, as well as nearly 150 interim assessment blocks, to accelerate learning this coming school year. The Playbook, developed in collaboration with Smarter…

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College entrance exam use in University of California undergraduate admissions.

UC Regents Vote to Conduct Feasibility Study; Includes Smarter Balanced As Option

(Santa Clara, Calif., May 21, 2020) – The University of California Regents approved a college entrance exam proposal today, voting to suspend its current standardized test requirement (ACT and SAT) for undergraduate admissions until 2024.  Starting this summer, UC will conduct a feasibility study, which includes whether to modify a current test, such as Smarter Balanced, as part of its…

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

Newly Released Sample Questions Can Help Support Instruction

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

New 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…

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NV Department of Education Nevada Ready Logo.

Nevada First Smarter Balanced State to Meet Federal Peer Review

Nevada became the first Smarter Balanced member state to meet all federal peer review requirements for the Smarter Balanced grades 3-8 math and ELA/literacy assessments, the Nevada State Department of Education announced Thursday, August 2. Nevada’s peer review letter from the United States Department of Education (USED) serves as a notification that Smarter Balanced meets all of…

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Analysis of 2017 Test Scores Finds No Issues With the Test

An analysis of 2017 test scores from Smarter Balanced member states found no technical issues with the assessment, Smarter Balanced announced today. The results of the analysis were affirmed by the Smarter Balanced Technical Advisory Committee and by the Center for Assessment, which conducted an independent review. “Based on the analysis, we believe that the test scores accurately…

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Smarter Balanced Strategic Plan: Maintaining Quality, Exploring Innovation

(FEBRUARY 1, 2018) During a yearlong process, Smarter Balanced member states collaborated to build a five-year Strategic Plan that guides the Consortium to maintain its high-quality assessment system while also continuing to innovate and evolve in response to a changing education landscape. The Strategic Plan 2017-2022 can be downloaded here. Based on conversations with a wide variety of stakeholders, Consortium…

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RELEASE: Smarter Balanced Partners with UC Santa Cruz

April 27, 2017For Immediate Release UC Santa Cruz Silicon Valley Extension will serve as the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium’s new fiscal agent. The transition will begin immediately as we conclude our three-year stay at UCLA’s Graduate School of Education and Information Studies. “The mission of UCSC Silicon Valley Extension includes supporting K-12 education through high-quality curriculum…

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