Index of archived SBAC e-mail updates
SBAC CDE News
- Meeting Key Milestones
- Sustainability Task Force Update
- Teacher Involvement
- Student Involvement
- Upcoming Opportunities for Involvement
- Technology Readiness Data Collection Window Extended
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.
- Meeting Key Milestones—SBAC Governing States have approved both the English language arts/literacy and mathematics claims described in the Content Specifications. Updated assessment item and performance task specifications and guidelines will help writers and reviewers develop high-quality items and tasks. SBAC Governing States are reviewing the Formative Assessment Master Work Plan. Visit the SBAC Web site: Assessments
for more details. Many of the Accessibility Guidelines documents noted below as well as other SBAC guidelines used for developing a balanced assessment system are now available on the SBAC Web site: guidelines
.
Guideline Document |
Audience |
Intended Use |
|---|---|---|
| General Accessbility Guideslines | Item and Task Writers | Create items and tasks that are accessible to as many students as possible. |
| English Language Learner Accessbility Guidelines | Item and Task Writers |
Create items and tasks that are accessible to as many students as possible. |
| Tactile/Braille Accessibility Guidelines | Tactile/Braille Experts | Create tactile and braille item extensions to items and tasks. |
| Mathematics Audio Guidelines | Audio Experts | Create mathematics audio extensions to items and tasks. |
| English Language Arts Audio Guidelines | Audio Experts | Create ELA audio extensions to items and tasks. |
| Sign Language Guideline | Sign Language Experts | Create sign language extensions to items and tasks. |
- New SBAC Staff Announced—Shelbi Cole, PhD, joined SBAC as the director of mathematics, bringing experience in mathematics curriculum and assessment development from her work with the Connecticut State Department of Education. She also served as the co-chair of the Performance Tasks Work Group and was closely involved in the development of the Mathematics Content Specifications. Magda Chia was named director of support for under-represented students. Magda is completing her PhD in education, equity, and cultural diversity at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Her research focuses on validity and fairness in assessments across diverse student populations. She will play a critical role in ensuring the assessment system serves the needs of all students, including students with disabilities and English language learners. For more details visit the SBAC Web site
- Sustainability Task Force Update—The Sustainability Task Force is planning for the future beyond 2014-15. SBAC has issued a Request For Proposal for organizational development and business process consulting to assist the Sustainability Task Force in developing a long-term plan for the Consortium. The Organization Development and Business Process Consulting RFP
outlines how this task force will provide recommendations regarding how states will procure, administer, and maintain the Smarter Balanced assessment system after the federal grant ends in October 2014.
- Teacher Involvement— Each state has appointed a Teacher Involvement Coordinator to organize outreach. Michelle Center, CDE Administrator District, School, and Innovation Branch, has been appointed as the Teacher Involvement Coordinator for California. In the near future, teachers will write assessment items and create performance tasks through the contract awarded to CTB/McGraw-Hill. CTB will hire and train educators from SBAC Governing States to write and review items and tasks for content, bias, and sensitivity. Details of how teachers may get involved will be sent through the SBAC CDE Updates.
- Student Involvement— American Institutes for Research (AIR), CTB/McGraw Hill, and Data Recognition Corporation have been selected to work together to recruit approximately 945 students in grades 3-12 in June and July to participate in cognitive labs. The study will look at how students approach and interact with different types of computer-administered items. Students will be selected based on several criteria including geographic location, socio-economic status, gender, ethnicity, and computer experience. The following SBAC member states, in these cities and their surrounding areas, have been chosen to participate: California (Monterey and Los Angeles), Colorado (Centennial), Connecticut (Hartford), Hawaii (Honolulu), Idaho (Boise), Iowa (Dubuque), Michigan (East Lansing), Oregon (Portland), Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh), South Carolina (Columbia), and Washington (Bothell).
In California, emails were sent to school districts in Monterey and Los Angeles counties asking for support in conducting the cognitive labs, either by assisting with student recruitment and/or by providing space in which to conduct the labs. Students with disabilities, students who are English language learners, and students with limited computer experience are strongly encouraged to apply. If your district (in Monterey and Los Angeles Counties ONLY) is willing to assist with any aspect of this important research, please contact Elizabeth Herring at eherring@air.org or contact the AIR helpdesk at 866-815-6541 by June 18 and provide the name and phone number of a district contact who can help coordinate logistics. If you agree to participate in student recruitment efforts, AIR will immediately provide you with a student recruitment flyer that can be sent to your district’s schools and teachers. - Upcoming Opportunities for Involvement—K-12 and higher education educators will draft the initial achievement level descriptors to help establish the SBAC’s achievement standards. The contract to develop initial achievement level descriptors for the Smarter Balanced summative assessment is expected to start in late June.
- Technology Readiness Tool Data Collection Window Extended—The first data collection window for the Technology Readiness Tool has been extended to June 30, 2012 (11:59 p.m. Hawaiian time). This extension was made at the request of states and will allow districts more time to submit data following the end of the school year. After the window closes, the data will be extracted, cleaned, and incorporated into a report regarding a technology plan and support for legacy operating systems (expected to be completed August 2012). Please be aware that the tool will remain open for subsequent data edits in preparation for the second data collection window anticipated in September 2012.
Ongoing Events
Technology Readiness Data Collection Rollout—April 16–June 30, Statewide Local Educational Agencies Data Collection: The statewide data collection window is now open and will close on June 30, 2012. Visit the CDE SBAC IT Readiness Tool Web page to view materials related to the statewide Technology Readiness Tool rollout. The reporting system for the Technology Readiness Tool will include district reports and the submission status for each school where information has been submitted.
Upcoming Events
Integrating Career and Technical Education with the Common Core—America’s Promise Alliance and the Association for Career and Technical Education are hosting a webinar highlighting lessons from Missouri’s efforts to integrate career and technical education with the Common Core State Standards. The webinar will feature Michelle Conrad and Larae Watkins of the Missouri Center for Career and Technical Education. The free webinar will be held on June 12 from 1:30–2:45 p.m. eastern. Visit the ACTE Web page
for information on how to register.
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 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.
- Assembly Bill (AB) 250—The AB 250 Statewide Pupil Assessment Web page provides the latest information about the reauthorization of California's assessment system.
- SBAC is learning from policy work underway in member states. Last week, Achieve released a new report about strategies that could be useful to engage career and technical educators into Common Core implementation activities. The report highlights efforts from eight states, including California, Missouri, and Oregon. The report is available online at the Achieve Web site
SBAC Question/Answer of the Week
Q: How will SBAC validate its college- and career-readiness benchmark?
A: A substantial research program has been designed and is being refined to validate and make adjustments to the college- and career-ready standard after full-scale administration begins in 2014-15. Because of the rigorous standard-setting process planned, it is anticipated that the initial college- and career-ready benchmark will be predictive of student performance in the first year of college. Nonetheless, it will be important to validate the standard, and make any necessary adjustments, once postsecondary performance data are available for students who have taken the SBAC assessments. If possible, the standard-setting process may also incorporate preliminary findings from member states that make college coursework available to high school students or that administer the assessment to a sample of first-year college students. The details for most of these research efforts, however, have not yet been fully determined.
