Index of archived SBAC e-mail updates
SBAC CDE News
- Technology Readiness Data Collection
- Technology Readiness Reporting
- Item Authoring/Item Pool Application Contract Awarded
- Updated IT Systems Architecture Available
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.
SBAC Announcements
- Technology Readiness Data Collection— The California statewide Technology Readiness data collection window will open April 16, 2012 and end June 14, 2012. This tool will help identify how ready schools are to support a system of online assessments. To make the first data collection window effort as easy as possible, CDE worked with over 38 pilot districts in each of the eleven California service regions to test the system to provide CDE feedback and suggestions for improving the local educational agencies’ (LEAs) experience with the tool. In order to prepare for the first statewide data collection window beginning on April 16, a list of Technology Directors in each district is being generated by CDE with the help of the Technology and Telecommunications Steering Committee, a subcommittee of the California County Superintendents Educational Services Association. Once the list is updated and confirmed, CDE will be sending an email to Technology Directors in each district across California.
- Technology Readiness Reporting—It was determined that both consortia need baseline data from districts and schools to help determine the minimum requirements for technology. Therefore, the first data collection window will be a technology readiness inventory. Data collection summaries will be available. These reports will help improve data quality and to inform the two consortia regarding which types of hardware and operating systems are currently being used in schools.
- Item Authoring/Item Pool Application Contract Awarded—SBAC has awarded Pacific Metrics the contract for Item Authoring and Item Pool Application. Pacific Metrics will work with the Technology Approach Work Group to develop the item authoring/item pool application. The item authoring/item pool application distinguishes features that the bank needs to support groups of items that have different purposes, different levels of security, and different users for the summative and interim assessments. The summative assessments are mandatory comprehensive accountability measures that include computer adaptive assessments and performance tasks, administered in the last 12 weeks of the school year in grades 3–8 and high school for English Language Arts (ELA) and mathematics. The interim assessments are optional comprehensive and content-cluster measures that afford teachers and administrators the flexibility to administer these assessments at strategic points in the instructional year and use the results to better understand students’ strengths and limitations in relation to the standards. They are designed as item sets that can provide actionable information about student progress. Summative Assessment test items and tasks that have been exposed to the extent that they cannot be used for high stakes Summative Assessments can be re-purposed for Interim Assessments. Interim Assessment test items are publicly released items and tasks. For details, please review the Request for Proposal (Outside Source).
- Updated IT Systems Architecture available—The first update to the IT Systems Architecture materials is posted on the SBAC’s public website. Developed in collaboration with the Architecture Review Board, the updated report includes diagram updates, name changes, and requirements clarifications (detailed changes can be found in the release notes). The SBAC IT Systems Architecture will be updated periodically throughout the development of the assessment system. Revised documents will be available online as PDFs at the SBAC Technology Web page (Outside Source).
SBAC CDE Upcoming Events
Technology Readiness Data Collection Rollout— The following timeline outlines the CDE Technology Readiness Data Collection Rollout for California LEAs.
- April 9–16, Enhance Communications for the Technology Readiness Tool Survey: CDE will consider the issues and challenges encountered during the pilot period, solidify the state-specific frequently asked questions (FAQs), and help enhance the SBAC FAQs to improve the experience with all of the LEAs. CDE will host a statewide Technology Readiness Webinar that will offer different modules to help the field navigate through the Technology Readiness tool.
- April 16–June 14, Begin Statewide LEAS Data Collection: On April 16, the CDE will post several statewide Technology Readiness Webinar modules that will be archived and available to the public on the CDE Web site. These Webinar modules will include SBAC 101, Technology Readiness Tool 101, Using the Technology Readiness Tool, California-Specific Technology Readiness Details and Resources. Frequently Asked Questions will also be posted to help districts navigate through the system. As additional information on the Technology Readiness Tool is made available, we will provide updates on the CDE Web site and through this update.
SBAC CDE Resources
- Join the SBAC CDE electronic mailing list by sending a blank e-mail to subscribe-sbac@mlist.cde.ca.gov.
- To receive Common Core State Standards CDE Updates via e-mail notification, subscribe to the from CDE listserv by sending a blank message to join-commoncore@mlist.cde.ca.gov.
- SBAC CDE Web site—The Smarter Balanced CDE Web site includes access to archived SBAC CDE Updates, resources, and presentations.
- SBAC External Web site—The Smarter Balanced external Web site (Outside Source) showcases the SBAC work and provides frequent updates on activities, milestones, and events.
- SBAC is on Twitter—Follow @SmarterBalanced to get resources and links to the latest SBAC news.
- A survey of more than 10,000 teachers conducted by Scholastic and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation sheds new light on how teachers view key issues in education. Among the interesting findings: Nearly 4 in 5 teachers are aware of the Common Core State Standards. Teachers also report that they need tools and supports to effectively implement the standards, such as professional development, curriculum resources, and formative assessments. The full report is available at the Scholastic Primary Sources Web page (Outside Source).
- 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 CDE SBAC IT Readiness Tool Parameters Web page.
- The IT architecture and requirements are now available online at the SBAC Technology Web page (Outside Source; refer to section titled "IT Systems Architecture Reports and Resources").
SBAC Questions/Answers of the Week
Q: Has SBAC decided what proportion of time or number of points will be devoted to performance tasks on the summative assessment?
A: SBAC is working with member states to ensure that the design of the summative assessment provides adequate information about student achievement and growth in meeting the English language arts/literacy and mathematics claims. Although it is still too early in the test design process to make definitive statements, it looks like performance tasks could comprise about half of the time students spend taking the summative assessment, since these activities are meant to measure capacities such as depth of understanding, writing and research skills, and complex analysis, which cannot be adequately assessed with selected- or constructed-response items. However, they will likely provide a somewhat smaller proportion of the total points for the summative assessment
