Smarter Balanced: Implications for Higher Education Tony Alpert, Executive Director Jacqueline King, Senior Higher Education Advisor January 29, 2016

Highlights of the Smarter Balanced System Built by states, for states Assessment of key skills for postsecondary success Higher education participation in test design and development Accessible for all students Rigorous, consistent performance standards that measure student progress across grades Expanded opportunity to demonstrate college readiness and address academic gaps Supports for high-quality instruction

What is Smarter Balanced? 17 governing members in (15 states, USVI, BIE) 3 affiliate members Based at UCLA Graduate School of Education & Information Studies 7 million students tested in 2015 A state-led service that has built a new K-12 assessment system aligned to the Common Core State Standards.

Describe Explain Interpret Level One (Recall) Level Three (Strategic Thinking) (Extended Thinking) Level Two (Skill/ Concept) Design Synthesize Connect Apply Concepts Critique Analyze Create Prove Arrange Calculate Draw Repeat Tabulate Recognize Memorize Identify Who, What, When, Where, Why List Name Use Illustrate Measure Define Recall Match Graph Classify Cause/Effect Estimate Compare Relate Infer Categorize Organize Interpret Predict Modify Summarize Show Construct Develop a Logical Argument AssessRevise Apprise Hypothesize Investigate Critique Compare Formulate Draw Conclusions Explain Differentiate Use Concepts to Solve Non-Routine Problems Level Four Source: Webb, Norman L. and others, “Web Alignment Tool” 24 July Wisconsin Center of Educational Research, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2 Feb Assessing Deeper Learning Smarter Balanced assessments move beyond basic skills and recall to assess critical thinking, communication, and problem solving skills 4

Higher Education Involvement Advisory committees Executive Committee State higher education representatives Design, development, and research partnerships –SCALE (Stanford) –Curtis Center (UCLA) –CRESST (UCLA) Item writing and review Standard setting Digital Library development

Accessibility & Accommodations Universal ToolsDesignated Supports Documented Accommodations Embedded Breaks Calculator Digital Notepad English Dictionary English Glossary Expandable Passages Global Notes Highlighter Keyboard Navigation Mark for Review Math Tools Spell Check Strikethrough Writing Tools Zoom Color Contrast Masking Text to Speech Translated Test Directions Translation (Glossary – 11 languages, 4 dialects) Translations (Stacked – Spanish) Turn Off Any Universal Tools American Sign Language Braille Closed Captioning Streamline Text-to-Speech Not Embedded Breaks English Dictionary Scratch Paper Thesaurus Bilingual Dictionary Color Contrast Color Overlay Magnification Read Aloud Noise Buffers Scribe Separate Setting Translated Test Directions Translations (Glossary) Abacus Alternate Response Options Calculator Multiplication Table Print on Demand Read Aloud Scribe Speech to Text Note: All tools not available for all portions/items of test. For detailed information, see Smarter Balanced Usability, Accessibility and Accommodations Guideline.

Current Language Glossaries All math items Audio support included 11 languages, plus dialects: –English –Spanish (Mexico, El Salvador, Puerto Rico) –Arabic –Filipino (Ilokano, Tagalog) –Mandarin (standard, simplified) –Russian –Punjabi (Eastern, Western) –Vietnamese –Cantonese (standard, simplified) –Ukrainian –Korean

CAASPP Grade 11 Achievement Standards Achievement StandardsEAP Status Standard Exceeded Ready for CSU and participating CCC college-level English/Mathematics coursework Standard Met Ready for CSU and participating CCC college-level English/Mathematics coursework – Conditional Standard Nearly Met Not yet demonstrating readiness for CSU and participating CCC college-level English/Mathematics coursework Standard Not Met Not ready for CSU and participating CCC college- level English/Mathematics coursework

Higher Education Early Adopter States

Support for Instruction: High School Interim Assessments MathEnglish Interim Comprehensive Assessment Interim Assessment Blocks Algebra and Functions – Linear Functions Algebra and Functions – Quadratic Functions Geometry – Right Triangle Ratios in Geometry Performance Task Interim Assessment Blocks Read Literary Texts Read Informational Texts Edit/Revise Brief Writes Listen/Interpret Research Explanatory Performance Task Argument Performance Task

Support for Instruction: The Digital Library More than 2,600 instructional and professional learning resources that integrate the formative assessment process Aligned with the CCSS Selected by educators based on quality criteria State-of-the-art tagging, filtering, and search features Collaboration features Multi-media modules Spotlight webinars and forums The Formative Assessment Process

For More Information: Visit Complete practice tests Sample items and tasks Detailed test design documents (blueprints, item specifications) Complete accessibility information Research papers and technical report List of participating colleges Much more

Questions & Discussion