Smarter Updates

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

Back-to-School Reading List to Celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month

Smarter Balanced is celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15 – October 15) with a list of books to incorporate into the back-to-school season. The following books celebrate Hispanic characters, stories, authors, and inclusive content- organized by grades 3-12.

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6 Books for Teachers to Celebrate National Women’s Equality Day

Smarter Balanced is celebrating National Women’s Equality Day, which falls annually on August 26, with a reading list—highlighting women’s voices and the challenges they have faced in the field of education.

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Three Steps to Incorporating Juneteenth Learning in the Classroom

On June 19, 1865, a Union general named Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, declaring that the Civil War was over and enslaved African-Americans were free.

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Summer Reading List for Students to Celebrate LGBTQIA+ Stories and Characters

Smarter Balanced is celebrating Pride Month this year (June 2022) with a list of books you can share with your students searching for stories to read over the summer.

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10 Books for Teachers: Summer Reading List

Summer break is fast approaching, which means more opportunities for “me time” and adding books for teachers to your summer reading list!

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7 Accessibility Tools and Resources to Celebrate Global Accessibility Awareness Day

This month, Smarter Balanced celebrates Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD), which falls on May 19 and motivates audiences to reexamine digital accessibility and reflect on equitable digital access.

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Get to Know the Test: Parent Edition

Parents can continue to engage in their child’s education and help pave each students’ path toward progress by diving into insightful resources. Whether it’s learning about the tools available to students or the types of content they’re learning, it’s important to have a bigger picture of your child’s education.

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3 Tools to Help You Learn More About the Test

With summative testing season approaching, educators can use Smarter Balanced’s system of tools to better understand how Smarter Balanced tests measure student progress toward college and career readiness in English language arts/literacy (ELA) and math. 1. Smarter Content Explorer Smarter Content Explorer provides educators access to Smarter Balanced test design and development information, including summative…

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Celebrate Black History Month

Black History Month serves as an annual tradition to celebrate some of the many African American achievements that helped shape U.S. history. This month marks the time to highlight voices from the past who took incredible risks and made enormous impacts to empower their peers and set examples for future generations.  In this post, we’re…

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Support Student Learning with Smarter Balanced Interims

As the calendar turns to 2022, teachers need resources to support student progress. A great way to check student learning and adjust instruction is to use Smarter Balanced interim assessments and interim test items. In this post, you’ll take a quick journey on the Smarter Balanced interim train so you can keep your students’ learning…

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