State achievement standards represent how much the state expects their students to learn in order to reach various levels of academic proficiency. In the past, these achievement standards were used by each state to report adequate yearly progress under No Child Left Behind federal legislation, and are now being used for federal reporting under the Read more about National Benchmarks for State Achievement Standards[…]
Policymakers currently face major challenges when it comes to assessments. Are the assessments aligned to the state’s standards? Are students spending too much time taking tests? Should new assessments be used in school performance ratings? These questions, among others, loom large when states tackle the subject of assessment-related policy. A new report from Education Commission Read more about Trends in State Assessment Selection and Implementation[…]
A recent report released by the National Network of State Teachers of the Year (NNSTOY) states that among those educators who have be awarded Teacher of the Year, there is a consensus that new consortia assessments, PARCC and Smarter Balance, are on the right trajectory and are an improvement on previous state assessments. Related findings Read more about State Teacher of the Year Recipients Weigh in on New Consortia Assessments[…]
2014-2015 was the first year in which states rolled out Common Core aligned, value-added tests. These tests promised to be better at evaluating the real progress (or lack of progress) that students are making than previous tests because they would be computerized and therefore able to include more interactive types of questioning. Yes, the rollout Read more about Is PARCC in trouble?[…]
Chester Finn of Education Excellence has written a post on the Common Core Watch blog where he broaches the issue that many education professionals have been contemplating but not talking openly about much: are we actually going to get anything useful out of the first batch of Common Core aligned testing data? His answer is Read more about Truth and Consequences: Common Core Aligned Testing[…]
We have heard much in recent years about college readiness and the role that standards, particularly the Common Core, have to play preparing students for life after high school. But we have heard much less about how institutions of higher education are thinking about the changes of the Common Core, and how much they will Read more about Colleges Not Ready for College-Ready Standards?[…]
States face a critical decision in the next year: how to assess student learning against new college- and career-ready standards. This decision has important ramifications, because testing and assessment have long had a powerful influence on instructional practice. Thus the assessment that states choose will affect teaching and learning in virtually every classroom. This guide Read more about New Assessments: A Guide for State Policymakers[…]
With pilot tests being conducted and debates raging over Common Core-aligned assessments, new changes proposed for the SAT, and emerging plans for new science assessments, the landscape of educational assessments is changing rapidly. In this month’s issue brief, we have assembled summary information and links that will keep you on the cutting edge. What are Read more about April Issue Brief: The Changing Assessment Landscape[…]
As several of the assessment consortia begin field-testing this spring, public interest and questions are increasing rapidly. We hope these up-to-date one-page summaries of each of the six multistate consortia are helpful in your communications activities. The Comprehensive Assessment Consortia: PARCC http://www.k12center.org/rsc/pdf/k12_center_parcc.pdf Smarter Balanced http://www.k12center.org/rsc/pdf/k12_center_smarter_balanced.pdf Summary of Key Similarities and Differences http://www.k12center.org/rsc/pdf/key_diffs_handout_march%202014.pdf The Alternate Read more about At-A-Glance Summaries of the Six Assessment Consortia[…]
More than 1 million students across 14 states and D.C. have been trying out almost 10,000 test items as the group deploys its pilot exams. During a call with reporters, PARCC officials pushed the same idea as Smarter Balanced and Education Secretary Arne Duncan have done in recent days: Glitches are expected and welcome. Massachusetts Read more about Pilot Testing for Common Core Underway[…]
More than 3 million students in grades three through eight won’t have to take older standardized tests this spring while trying out new exams aligned to the Common Core. Thanks to a long-awaited waiver granted by the Education Department, California doesn’t have to collect and report statewide assessment data in the short term. But advocacy Read more about ED Gives California Testing Pass[…]
On March 20, the Alliance for Excellent Education (All4Ed) is hosting a free webinar entitled “Getting Ready for the Assessment Consortia Field Tests.” The live webinar, which can also be viewed as a recording afterward, will be from 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm EST and the panelists will include: Jacqueline E. King, PhD, Director of Read more about Webinar: Getting Ready for the Assessment Consortia Field Tests[…]
In just over a year from now, the vast majority of states are planning to transition to Common Core-aligned assessments. This transition is a crucial step in fully implementing the new standards, as these assessments will measure the extent to which students are mastering the content and skills embedded in the standards-something most current state Read more about A Primer on Common Core-Aligned Assessments[…]
Linda Darling-Hammond, John Jackson, and Marc Tucker are calling for renewed attention to assessment in the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Schools Act, of which the most recent iteration is No Child Left Behind. They write: The next version of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) should require the use of tests that Read more about Testing and ESEA Reauthorization: The Moment of Truth[…]
Catherine Gewertz of Education Week has delved into the complicated issue of how testing for Common Core will be administered, and the results suggest that the prices of those tests, while probably fair for what they offer, may prove prohibitive for some states. What we already know is this: “Now that the new tests are Read more about Comparing PARCC and Smarter Balanced Test Costs: Are they prohibitive for some states?[…]
Chester E. Finn, Jr. of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute believes that Smarter Balanced and PARCC, the two federally-backed Common Core assessment consortia, will lose their place over the next few years to the comprehensive testing apparatus of College Board/ETS and ACT/Pearson. In a new opinion piece for the Fordham Institute’s education blog, the Flypaper, Read more about Will the Common Core assessment consortia wither away?[…]