Index of archived SBAC e-mail updates
SBAC CDE News
- California Technology Readiness Tool Summary Report Posted
- Advisory committees for Students with Disabilities and English Language Learners Help Guide Accessibility and Accommodations
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.
- California Technology Readiness Tool Summary Report Posted — The first administration of the TRT was completed on June 30, and data were extracted on July 15, 2012. This survey was the first of six administrations that will be conducted to assist schools in measuring their progress and determining their readiness to administer online assessments. The survey was voluntary, and there was a broad range of participation levels of the national assessment consortia. Forty-two percent of California's school districts fully participated in the first administration of the survey, which is comparable to the participation rate of many other states. In addition, the submission of computing devices by Los Angeles Unified School District brought California's devices submission rate to 54 percent. The complete California summary and additional information about the TRT is posted on the CDE Web site. The national TRT Summary Report is scheduled to be released after SBAC analyzes the results of the first iteration of the TRT. It is important to note that this first data collection was intended to gather base-level information about schools and districts in the SBAC states and is not to be used for determining the local readiness to conduct online assessments. An analysis of the specific results of the survey for California will be more valuable to measure progress and determine readiness once we have multiple administrations of the survey. The next TRT survey data extraction is scheduled to be completed on December 14, 2012.
- Advisory committees for Students with Disabilities and English Language Learners Help Guide Accessibility and Accommodations — Advisory committees for students with disabilities and English Language Learners help guide accessibility and accommodations. Comprised of more than 20 national experts in student assessment, accommodations strategies, language acquisition, and learning disabilities, these committees provide feedback to SBAC staff, work groups, and contractors. In addition, two literature reviews of accessibility and accommodations research
are available on a new webpage devoted to the Consortium’s support for under-represented students.
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.
- New Resources and Webinars on Standards and Assessments—Student Achievement
Partners released ready-to-use professional development modules to assist educators in the implementation of
the Common Core State Standards. These modules contain resources for educators,
including research, discussion topics, activities, web and video tools, and
more.
- SBAC Update Webinar — A recently recorded webinar with Joe Willhoft provides
an overview of the Consortium’s work and upcoming milestones. The 30-minute
presentation covers progress on test design and development; special
populations; technology infrastructure; procurement; and collaboration and
partnerships.
- California Districts Selected for SBAC Small Scale Trials — California districts that were randomly selected for SBAC Small Scale Trial are posted on the CDE Web site.
SBAC Question/Answer of the Week
Q: How can schools participate in the Pilot Test of the assessment system?A: SBAC will conduct a Pilot Test of the assessment system beginning in February 2013. The Pilot Test will include more than 10,000 items and performance tasks currently under development and will provide information about how these items and tasks perform in a real-world setting. Participation in the Pilot Test will be open to all schools in the Consortium and will include students from grades 3-8 and 11. Additional information about how to participate in the Pilot Test will be made available to states in fall 2012.
