Smarter Updates

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

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…

Read More
Screenshot of Sample Items Website home page.

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 items by target This feature will probably be most useful to teachers, but we’ve added the ability…

Read More

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’ best practices in implementation and organized them into two new big ideas. Big Idea #7:…

Read More

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 School District (Riverside County, Calif.) told the California State Board of Education that its use of Smarter Balanced interim assessments…

Read More

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…

Read More

Collaboration, Connections and Digital Library Resources, Oh My!

NOTE: The Smarter Balanced Digital Library was decommissioned. Please visit Tools for Teachers, the new home for instructional resources and professional learning. Educators from around the nation collaborate to connect resources in the Digital Library to interim assessments Teachers are crazy productive. So what happens when you bring 70 educators together over a three-day period and give them…

Read More

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…

Read More

New Smarter Balanced Desmos Calculators Are Free and Accessible to Students

Smarter Balanced prides itself on innovation and accessibility. All students should have the ability to show what they know and can do on the highest quality assessment system in the nation. Smarter Balanced and Desmos are proud to provide calculators that are free to students and include cutting-edge accessibility features. Students who are visually impaired or blind…

Read More
Multiracial group of six friends taking a selfie at graduation, in their black caps and gowns.

South Dakota to Use Smarter Balanced Scores for College Admissions

Monday, it was announced that South Dakota public high school seniors who earned a Level 3 or 4 on their Smarter Balanced 11th grade math and English language arts tests would receive “guaranteed general acceptance into the state’s public universities and technical institutes.” The proactive admissions initiative is a cooperative effort of the South Dakota Department of…

Read More

WA Student Writes About the Value of Smarter Balanced

Elizabeth Min, who just finished her junior year at Decatur High School in Federal Way, Wash., recently wrote an opinion piece about the value of Smarter Balanced in Federal Way Mirror newspaper. Wrote Min: “Taking tests can be challenging, but the results give students like me important information to get the most out of our time…

Read More