Smarter Balanced Assessment

Alphabet Soup
• CAT - Computer Adaptive Test
• CCR – College Career Readiness
• CCSS – Common Core State Standards
• ELA – English Language Arts
• IAB - Interim SBA Assessment Blocks
• ICA - Interim SBA Comprehensive Assessments
• OSPI - Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction
• SBA - Smarter Balanced Assessment
• SBAC –Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium
• MSP - Measurements of Student Progress
• HSPE – High School Proficiency Exams

Who?
• Grades 3-8
• Grade 11

What
• SBA -English Language Arts
• SBA – Mathematics
• MSP Science – 5 th and 8 th grades
• HSPE – 11 th and 12 th graders
• * Reading and Writing HSPEs will be available to
11th and 12th graders who have not met their graduation requirements in spring and summer
2015, and to 12th graders in spring and summer
2016.
•

How?
• February – All students will take the practice exams
• Spring Testing

Old test (MSP)*
Paper and pencil
Bubble sheet
Multiple choice questions
Broad knowledge of topics
Year-end only assessment
Reviewed/scored by people; results within about 2 months
New test (Smarter
Balanced)
Computer-based and adapted to individual student response
(accommodates special education students, English Language Learners,
Braille readers and others with special needs)
Technology-enhanced, interactive (i.e. drag-and-drop, listening tasks with headphones)
Performance tasks (i.e. writing and analytics)
Deeper knowledge/understanding of fewer topics
Optional shorter assessments several times a year
Computer-generate results with secure online reporting system; only small portion scored by people, resulting in faster turn-around (less than 1 month)

A closer look

Envision two mountains
• Mount Rainier • Mount McKinley

People who successfully climb Mt.
Rainier (at 14,000 feet) will find
Mt. McKinley (at 20,000 feet) more challenging.
Some will be able to meet the challenge, some will be close and some who previously were able to summit Rainier will not be able to summit McKinley at first.

ReadyWA.org
• Kindergarten
First grade
Second grade
Third grade
Fourth grade
Fifth grade
Sixth grade
Seventh grade
Eighth grade
High school math
High school ELA

SmarterBalanced.org
Learn More
• Visit the Smarter Balanced website: http://www.smarterbalanced.org
• Follow us on Twitter:
@SmarterBalanced
Take the Test
• Gain familiarity with the test software platform and sample test questions for grades 3-8 and 11
• Take the Practice Test: http://www.smarterbalanced.org/practice-test/

National PTA
Parent’s Guide to Student Success

Handouts
• 3 Key Ideas for Parents about the Common Core
• Smarter Balanced for Parents:
Preparing Students for Success