Smarter Balanced Item Quality Review
Questions continue to be voiced in the media and academic realms about the assessments that will determine whether students are “proficient” on the new Common Core Standards.
Do you recognize the experts listed below?
Do you trust their input?
“Item Quality Review Panel convened on May 20–21—The Item Quality Review Panel convened in Las Vegas to discuss three critical aspects of the item development process: quality criteria, item specifications, and archetypes. The panel members (listed below) who represent content expertise and expertise in services to underrepresented students met as a whole group to discuss the design of the Smarter Balanced assessment and the goals of the Field Test item development. Then, in content-specific groups, the panel members, Smarter Balanced staff and work group representatives, and contractor staff discussed key areas of focus and made recommendations to improve item development.
Dr. P. David Pearson
Dr. Donald Deshler
Dr. Douglas Hartman
Edward Bosso
Dr. Elfrieda Hiebert
Dr. Guadalupe Valdes
Dr. Sandra Murphy
Dr. Alan Schoenfeld
Dr. Bill McCallum
Estelle Woodbury
Dr. Francis (Skip) Fennell
Dr. Guillermo Solano-Flores
Dr. Jason Zimba
Dr. Karen Fuson
Dr. Patrick Callahan
Steve Leinwand”
This information was released in the Smarter Balanced Weekly Update #118, 2013-06-07.
Smarter Balanced Assessments
I just finished reading Maureen Devlin’s post about teachers taking assessments. That is a practice that would benefit teachers of all grade levels and content areas. Check out that post – Take the Test! (And if you are on Twitter, you should be following her @lookforsun)
Smarter Balanced Assessments are available for preview! Have YOU worked through any of the sample items or tasks?
Sample Items and Tasks
http://www.smarterbalanced.org/sample-items-and-performance-tasks/
Accessing the Sample Items and Tasks
The sample items and performance tasks are compatible with desktop and laptop computers with the following Internet browsers:
• Firefox 3.6 or newer
• Internet Explorer 8 or newer
• Chrome 18 or newer
• Safari 4.1 or newer
In addition, Android and iPad tablets with 9.5 inch screens (10 inch class) or larger are supported with the following Internet browsers:
• Chrome 18 or newer (Android)
• Safari 4.1 or newer (iPad)
Explore sample items and performance tasks:
• English language arts/literacy
• Frequently asked questions (PDF)
(Thanks to Deb Hindman at the Iowa Department of Education for this information about SBAC!)
Do you want to see more than one passage? Additional SBAC Sample Items
Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) has released sample items that teachers and districts can use as part of their preparation in the transition to SBAC related assessments.
| ELA | Mathematics |
|---|---|
What did you learn from the sample tasks?
If the assessment task asked the reader to identify three key ideas, is it possible to highlight more than three and increase the likelihood of a correct answer?
Were any of the answers questionable in your own mind?
Resource - Full 