Helping Students Show
What They Know and Can Do

Smarter Balanced end-of-year tests are designed to be flexible, adaptive, and provide unparalleled supports for diverse learners. The summative tests are one piece of an integrated system that includes instructional supports and interim assessments that help educators plan lessons and monitor student learning throughout the school year.

Two icon illustrations including a hand tracing over braille and a desktop computer with browsers opened on the screen and a mouse sitting next to the keyboard.

Supporting Students

Smarter Balanced tests are designed to support students with:

  • Computer adaptive tests—online assessments that adjust their level of difficulty based on student responses—that assess student knowledge and academic skills more accurately than traditional fixed-form testing methods.
  • Unmatched accessibility features, such as Braille, Spanish translations and glossaries in 10 languages, as well as translated test directions in 19 languages. 

Understanding the Smarter Balanced Summative Assessment

This video explores the Smarter Balanced summative assessment. The summative assessment, along with the interim assessments, and formative assessment instructional supports, are designed to work together to support high-quality teaching, improve learning for all students, and prepare students for life after high school.

Questions and Answers