Top News
- Additional SBAC Work Group Representation Announced
- Architecture Review Board (ARB) Update
- Students with Disabilities Advisory Committee—Solicitation for Nominees
Announcements
- Additional SBAC Work Group Representation Announced—SBAC announces new national work group members. SBAC received a total of 21 nominations from governing states for the ten open member positions, which allowed SBAC to match the expertise of the individuals with the needs of the work groups. Jessica Valdez, CDE National Assessment Educational Progress State Coordinator, was chosen to represent California on the Assessment Design: Item Development Work Group which addresses system design and development for the summative and interim assessments. She will join the current SBAC CDE National Work group leads representing California which include:
- Technology Approach Work Group—Rodney Okamoto, CDE Education Administrator II, Technology Services Division. His charge as a national work group member is to aid in the review of technology plans which serves as a requirements resource and deliverable review group for all SBAC technology development/procurement, and provides technology implementation guidance to member states.
- Assessment Design: Performance Tasks—Dr. Linda Hooper, Education Research and Evaluation Consultant High School & Physical Fitness Assessment. She helps to review the drafting and pilot/field testing of performance task specifications and development processes as a national work group member.
- Assessment Design: Test Design—Jamie Contreras, Education Research and Evaluation Consultant STAR Program and Assessment Transition Office. She assists in reviews of the development of the summative and interim assessment test designs and related test design documents as a national work group member.
- Formative Processes and Tools/Professional Development Support—Laura Watson, Education Research and Evaluation Consultant High School & Physical Fitness Assessment. As a national work group member, she supports member states in planning and implementing professional development initiatives, creating formative tools and processes, and constructing practice guidelines and assessment frameworks.
- Accessibility & Accommodations/English Learners—Noelia Ramirez, Education Research and Evaluation Consultant Standards-based Tests. She reviews accessibility and accommodations summative, interim, and formative instruments, provide definitions and background information on target populations, and helps to create supporting documents and guidelines for implementation as a national work group member.
[In addition, CDE currently has approximately 35 subject area experts representing various CDE Divisions reviewing and commenting on all SBAC documents submitted to California by SBAC as a governing state.]
- Architecture Review Board (ARB) Update—K-12 members have been selected based on nominations from member states. Members of the ARB will support the ongoing implementation and enhancement phase of the SMARTER Balanced IT systems architecture. Dr. Patrick Traynor, Assistant Superintendent, Student Assessment and Accountability Hesperia Unified School District was chosen as the California LEA representative provided feedback on the SBAC IT Systems Architecture. The intent is to develop an LEA panel that has a variety of technical infrastructure sophistication and a diversity of urban, suburban, and rural areas.
- Students with Disabilities Advisory Committee—Solicitation for Nominees—SBAC is accepting nominations from member states for experts to join the SBAC Students with Disabilities Advisory Committee. The committee will assist the work groups and other SBAC efforts by providing guidance on how to develop accessible assessments for all students. CDE will nominate three individuals in academic positions and/or leadership roles in advocacy organizations whose areas of interest include the assessment of students with disabilities on January 24, 2012.
CDE/SBAC Upcoming Events
- CDE SBAC January 2012 Presentations to the California County Superintendents Educational Services Association (CCSESA) Sub-Committees. CCSESA is made up of 58 California’s County Superintendents of Schools and their respective county offices of education. The primary aim of County Superintendents is to work collaboratively with school districts to ensure that every student benefits from a quality educational experience, regardless of their circumstances. The remaining January 2012 presentations include:
- January 26, 2012 CDE SBAC Update to Technology and Telecommunications (TTSC). TTSC exists to develop, maintain, coordinate and support advanced cost-effective technology delivery systems, services, curricula and other educational resources by providing statewide leadership, planning, coordination and evaluation in order to equip California's students with the literacy needed to compete in tomorrow's economy.
- January 27, 2012 CDE SBAC Bi-monthly Update to Education Coalition (EDCO) Representatives. EDCO is a group made up of advocacy groups including the CCSESA, the Association of California School Administrators, the California Association of School Business Officials, the California Federation of Teachers, the California School Boards Association, the California School Employees Association, the California Teachers Association, California’s Parent-Teacher Association and the California Service Employees International Union. One to three representatives from each organization were nominated to participate in regularly scheduled monthly WebEx meetings to receive SBAC updates, to provide feedback, and to discuss transition needs for the new set of state assessments scheduled for the 2014–15 school year.
CDE/SBAC Resources
- A new presentation by SBAC at the University of Southern California in January 2012 has been posted under External Resources at the SMARTER Balanced Assessment Consortium page.
- 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 in the papers and publishers section at NCHEMS (Outside Source).
SBAC Question/Answer of the Week (From SBAC All States Update)
Q: Will SMARTER Balanced allow the use of calculators on the summative and interim assessments?
A: No decision has yet been made on the use of calculators with the assessment system. SBAC intends to work with member states, Technical Advisory Committee, and partners like the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics to inform our policy on the use of calculators. This is a complex issue. One of the core tenets of the Common Core math standards is that students must develop mathematical fluency—speed and accuracy with simple calculations. On the other hand, the standards encourage students to use appropriate tools—including calculators—strategically when solving problems. Fortunately, balancing these priorities is aided by the use of computer adaptive testing. SBAC will be able to provide tools (or no tools, as the case may be) at the item level through the online interface. This not only assures that tools are appropriate to the task, it also levels the playing field so that students are not advantaged or disadvantaged by virtue of the sophistication of their calculators.
