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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
Updated Connections Playlists
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 Playlists to add …
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 …
8 Reasons to Check Out the Updated Sample Items Website
Updates to the Smarter Balanced Sample Items Website bring a fresh look and new features that make this tool even more useful for teachers and parents. Here are eight reasons why you’ll definitely want to take a look! 1. Find …
Two More “Big Ideas” to Help Educators Get Smarter Balanced Ready
Last year, we released a new resource—Smarter Balanced Ready: Big Ideas for Implementation—to share lessons learned from educators working to implement the assessment system in their districts and schools. Over the past year, we’ve captured even more stories of educators’ …
California’s Val Verde Unified School District Sees Gains from Interim Assessment Use
District leaders tell the California State Board of Education that educators regularly use interims to improve student learning Note: Video of the Val Verde Unified School District Testimony begins at 04:38:28 On May 9, educators from Val Verde Unified …