Index of archived SBAC e-mail updates
SBAC CDE News
- CTB/McGraw-Hill Selected for Achievement Level Descriptors Contract
- Recording of Webinar by Complete College America Available
- Governing States elect California’s Deb Sigman to Executive Committee
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.
- Achievement level descriptors contract—SBAC selected CTB/McGraw-Hill as the winner of RFP-12. CTB/McGraw-Hill will work with SBAC to develop general and grade-specific achievement level descriptors in English language arts and literacy and mathematics (grades 3–8 and 11) for the SBAC summative assessments.
- Recording of Webinar by Complete College America Available—Stan Jones, president of Complete College America (CCA), discussed CCA’s new report on remediation and the role of the Common Core and SBAC in advancing the completion agenda. CCA’s recent report on remediation can be accessed at the Complete College Web site
. - Governing States elect Deb Sigman to Executive Committee—The Governing States have elected Deborah Sigman, the SBAC state lead from California, to the SBAC Executive Committee. Deb has over 35 years of experience in the assessment and accountability arena in K-12 California public schools. She has served as a district administrator overseeing various aspects of assessment, research, and evaluation, including the development of district-level assessments and the training of teachers in the interpretation and use of assessment data. She served as California’s State Testing Director from January 2004 until May 2008, when she then became the Deputy Superintendent of the Public Instruction, District, School, and Innovation Branch for the CDE. She currently serves as the vice-chair of the National Assessment Governing Board-CCSSO Policy Task Force and as a member of the Education Information Management Advisory Consortium Assessment Task Force. Deb Sigman will fill the position Joseph Martineau recently vacated when he was elected as Executive Committee Co-Chair.
CDE Opportunity to Provide Feedback
- Reauthorization of the California Pupil Assessment System—
As part of the process in developing recommendations to the Legislature for the reauthorization of the California pupil assessment system, State Superintendent of Public Instruction (SSPI) Tom Torlakson, is seeking your help. All Californians have a unique opportunity to provide thoughts on and suggestions for what they think should be included in this system. Several opportunities exist for you to provide feedback. You may:- Complete a brief survey:
- You may access the English version of the survey
online. - You may access the Spanish version of the survey online.
- You may access the English version of the survey
- Complete a brief survey:
- To access the schedule of Work Group meetings and learn more about the statewide assessment reauthorization process, please visit the AB 250 Statewide Pupil Assessment Web page.
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.
- Smarter News, the SBAC's monthly eNewsletter —Smarter Balanced provides monthly updates on the development of the Smarter Balanced assessment system and activities in member states.
- 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.
- K-12 Center Report on Technology and Assessments—The K-12 Center at ETS released a new report about how technology impacts assessment through greater accessibility, technology-enhanced items, and personalized learning. Sea Change in Assessment: How Technology Is Transforming K-12 Testing is available online.
SBAC Question/Answer of the Week
Q: What support will SBAC provide to help states and schools interpret assessment results?
A: SBAC will develop web-based professional learning tools for teachers, administrators, and other stakeholders to understand how to access and interpret Smarter Balanced interim and summative score reports. As part of this work, SBAC will convene state leadership teams charged with recruiting an average of 100 educators per state to form state networks of educators. These educator networks will provide feedback on the development of formative assessment resources and professional learning tools. They will also serve as ambassadors to help states engage stakeholders with resources and trainings to understand and interpret assessment results. Additional information is available in the Formative Assessment Master Work Plan
.
