Email Specifics:
Subject: Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium Pilot Test Training
To: District Coordinators and School Coordinators
CC: kmurphy@air.org, aplace@air.org, eherring@air.org, skromer@air.org, shuston@air.org,
Email Text:
This email is being sent on behalf of the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium by the American
Institutes for Research (AIR) as part of its role as the Smarter Balanced Test Administration contractor.
Please contact the Smarter Balanced Help Desk at 866-815-7246 or smarterbalancedhelpdesk@air.org
with any questions.
Dear District and School Coordinators:
Thank you for agreeing to participate in the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium Pilot Test. The
Consortium has developed several tools to assist you in administering this assessment, including
manuals, guides and online training modules that are intended to give you detailed instruction on using,
navigating, and proctoring the Pilot Test via the Online Testing System. These tools will all be posted on
the Smarter Balanced portal at http://sbac.portal.airast.org/.
Important Note: A training presentation for District Coordinators, School Coordinators, and Test
Administrators will be provided via WebEx over the course of the next several weeks to provide an
overview of the pilot test administration (please see the schedule on the following pages). Note: School
Coordinators should share this information with the Test Administrators in their school and encourage
them to attend a session. The content of the presentation will be the same for each session, so you need
to attend only one session.
The following information will be covered in the training session:





Instructions for accessing the Smarter Balanced Portal at http://sbac.portal.airast.org/
An overview of posted resources and Documentation
Directions on downloading and installing the secure browser on students’ computers
Directions for school personnel to upload students and Test Administrators into the Test
Information Distribution Engine (TIDE)
Instructions for performing key tasks in the Test Administrator Interface in the Test Delivery
System, such as creating test sessions, monitoring student progress, and pausing/stopping test
sessions
By the end of the session, participants should have sufficient information about the pilot test
administration and associated resources to understand the steps that need to be completed to prepare for
the administration of the test. An additional 30 minutes will be reserved at the end of the training
presentation for a question-and-answer session. For scheduling purposes, participants should set aside
approximately one and a half hours for this training session.
To Register: Instructions for participants on pre-registering for the session of their choice will be posted
on the Smarter Balanced portal at http://sbac.portal.airast.org/ no later than February 5. After participants
have pre-registered, they will receive an email containing the specific sign-in information for their session.
Although there are many sessions, schools are requested to register for the earliest sessions possible
(February) to ensure that sessions remain available for schools not yet recruited.
For questions please call the Smarter Balanced Help Desk at 866-815-7246 or
smarterbalancedhelpdesk@air.org.
1
Schedule for Smarter Balanced Training Sessions
Date
Time (Eastern)
Time (Central)
Time (Mountain)
Time (Pacific)
Time (Hawaii)
3:30 p.m. Eastern
2:30 p.m. Central
1:30 p.m. Mountain
12:30 p.m. Pacific
10:30 a.m. Hawaii
3:30 p.m. Eastern
2:30 p.m. Central
1:30 p.m. Mountain
12:30 p.m. Pacific
10:30 a.m. Hawaii
4:30 p.m. Eastern
3:30 p.m. Central
2:30 p.m. Mountain
1:30 p.m. Pacific
11:30 p.m. Hawaii
6:30 p.m. Eastern
5:30 p.m. Central
4:30 p.m. Mountain
3:30 p.m. Pacific
1:30 p.m. Hawaii
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
3:30 p.m. Eastern
2:30 p.m. Central
1:30 p.m. Mountain
12:30 p.m. Pacific
10:30 a.m. Hawaii
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
11:30 a.m. Eastern
10:30 a.m. Central
9:30 a.m. Mountain
8:30 a.m. Pacific
6:30 a.m. Hawaii
Monday, February 25, 2013
3:30 p.m. Eastern
2:30 p.m. Central
1:30 p.m. Mountain
12:30 p.m. Pacific
10:30 p.m. Hawaii
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
6:00 p.m. Eastern
5:00 p.m. Central
4:00 p.m. Mountain
3:00 p.m. Pacific
1:00 p.m. Hawaii
Monday, March 4, 2013
11:30 a.m. Eastern
10:30 a.m. Central
9:30 a.m. Mountain
8:30 a.m. Pacific
6:30 a.m. Hawaii
6:00 p.m. Eastern
5:00 p.m. Central
4:00 p.m. Mountain
3:00 p.m. Pacific
1:00 p.m. Hawaii
3:30 p.m. Eastern
2:30 p.m. Central
1:30 p.m. Mountain
12:30 p.m. Pacific
10:30 a.m. Hawaii
4:30 p.m. Eastern
3:30 p.m. Central
2:30 p.m. Mountain
1:30 p.m. Pacific
10:30 a.m. Hawaii
4:30 p.m. Eastern
3:30 p.m. Central
2:30 p.m. Mountain
1:30 p.m. Pacific
10:30 p.m. Hawaii
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Monday, February 11, 2013
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Monday, March 11, 2013
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
2
Schedule for Smarter Balanced Training Sessions (continued)
Date
Time (Eastern)
Time (Central)
Time (Mountain)
Time (Pacific)
Time (Hawaii)
2:30 p.m. Eastern
1:30 p.m. Central
12:30 a.m. Mountain
11:30 a.m. Pacific
8:30 a.m. Hawaii
3:30 p.m. Eastern
2:30 p.m. Central
1:30 p.m. Mountain
12:30 p.m. Pacific
9:30 a.m. Hawaii
Thursday, March 21, 2013
4:30 p.m. Eastern
3:30 p.m. Central
2:30 p.m. Mountain
1:30 p.m. Pacific
10:30 a.m. Hawaii
Monday, March 25, 2013
3:00 p.m. Eastern
2:00 p.m. Central
1:00 p.m. Mountain
12 noon Pacific
9:00 a.m. Hawaii
2:30 p.m. Eastern
1:30 p.m. Central
12:30 a.m. Mountain
11:30 a.m. Pacific
8:30 a.m. Hawaii
3:00 p.m. Eastern
2:00 p.m. Central
1:00 p.m. Mountain
12 noon Pacific
9:00 a.m. Hawaii
Friday, March 15, 2013
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
3