Index of archived SBAC e-mail updates
SBAC CDE News
- Opportunity for Public Final Item Specifications Review
- ELA/Literacy Content Specifications Claims Approved
The SBAC CDE weekly update is an email sent each week to inform California educators and parents of new developments and upcoming events. Please feel free to share information in the update with those who are interested in the SBAC CDE’s work.
- Item Specifications Review—SBAC announces one last opportunity for the public (including teachers, parents and administrators) to review and provide feedback on the SBAC item writing specifications and guidelines. These are documents that SBAC will use to develop test items for the assessment. These item specifications provide item writers with specific guidance on how to translate the Common Core State Standards into actual assessment items. In addition, guidelines for bias and sensitivity, accessibility and accommodations, and style help item developers and reviewers ensure consistency and fairness. The opportunity for the public review of the item specifications gives individuals in our state an excellent opportunity to:
- further their understanding of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and how it can be assessed
- gain insight into the SBAC system
- be involved and provide feedback into the development process.
- ELA/Literacy Content Specifications Claims Approved— SBAC Governing States approved the claims in the English Language Arts/Literacy Content Specifications this week. The Content Specifications underwent two rounds of public review last year. Governing States then discussed and voted on the claims, which are broad statements of the assessment system’s learning outcomes. During the review process, the claims were revised based on extensive feedback. For example, SBAC added a total claim for grades 3–8 and high school. Since the claims establish score reporting categories, this will allow SBAC to indicate overall proficiency in the ELA/literacy domain. Additionally, even though the broad headings for the claims remained essentially intact throughout the review and adoption process, the text descriptions of all claims were edited to improve the clarity and scope of the assessments. The claims are:
- Total English language arts/literacy (Grades 3-8) - "Students can demonstrate progress toward college and career readiness in English language arts and literacy."
- Total English language arts/literacy (High School) - "Students can demonstrate college and career readiness in English language arts and literacy."
- Reading - "Students can read closely and analytically to comprehend a range of increasingly complex literary and informational texts."
- Writing - "Students can produce effective and well-grounded writing for a range of purposes and audiences."
- Speaking and Listening - "Students can employ effective speaking and listening skills for a range of purposes and audiences."
- Research/Inquiry - "Students can engage in research and inquiry to investigate topics, and to analyze, integrate, and present information."
SBAC CDE Upcoming Events
March 7-8, 2012 California State Board of Education Meeting
- State Board of Education update on CCSS and Assessments—Under the California Department of Education Links section, California State Board of Education, links have been added to the SBE March 7, 2012, agenda at the State Board of Education update on CCSS and Assessments (CDE Internet). Agenda items related to SBAC and CDE assessments include: Item 3, an update on the activities of the CDE and the SBE regarding implementation of the CCSS; Item 4, an update regarding the reauthorization of the statewide pupil assessment system and alignment with the CCSS; and Item 6, an update on the activities of the CDE regarding the development of English Language Development standards.
SBAC CDE Resources
- Join the SBAC electronic mailing list by sending a blank e-mail to subscribe-sbac@mlist.cde.ca.gov. To receive CCSS CDE Updates via e-mail notification, subscribe to the from CDE listserv by sending a blank message to join-commoncore@mlist.cde.ca.gov.
- A list of the parameters collected by the SBAC Information Technology (IT) Readiness Tool for the spring 2012 data collection can be found on the SBAC CDE Web page (CDE Internet).
- The IT architecture and requirements are now available online at SBAC Technology (Outside Source; refer to section titled "IT Systems Architecture Reports and Resources").
- Link to the Technology Readiness Tool Webinar recording (Outside Source) —The State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA) hosted a webinar on January 30 to provide additional information about the IT readiness effort and answer questions.
- Report on engaging higher education in new assessments available—A new report from the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems (NCHEMS) identifies the conditions that can help build consensus between state K-12 and postsecondary systems. It also makes recommendations for meaningful involvement by higher education in the implementation of the Common Core State Standards and assessments, which will inform our efforts to engage the postsecondary field. The report is available at NCHEMS (Outside Source).
SBAC Question/Answer of the Week (From SBAC All States Update)
Q: Will the results from the Smarter Balanced summative assessment include both a scale score and a performance category, such as “advanced” or “basic”?
A: Results from the Smarter Balanced assessment will include both a scale score that can be used to assess year-to-year growth and an achievement level category. The results of the 11th-grade assessment will provide an indicator of college and career readiness. The number and names of the achievement categories are Consortium-level decisions that have not yet been determined; these decisions will be made by the SBAC Governing States. The SBAC proposal to the U.S. Department of Education also established a procedure for establishing and validating achievement standards (cut scores). Following the field test in spring 2014, the SBAC will conduct standard setting for the summative assessments in grades 3–8 and grade 11 in ELA/literacy and mathematics. These performance standards will be validated in July/August 2015 using spring 2015 operational data.
