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Sunday, July 07, 2013
Buying and installing a new system of K-12 student assessments aligned to the common core state standards will likely cost California $67 million, according to a report before the board of education this week.
For that price, the state would receive test developer Smarter Balanced’s “complete system,” which includes several types of assessments as well as a digital library – all of which is proposed in key legislation that would authorize the transition to the new assessments.
The new assessment system is just one piece of the complex puzzle state education officials face as California transitions its K-12 school system to new standards. With the governor’s signature last week on legislation restructuring school finance, an array of policy questions now confront the California State Board of Education – charged with implementing new accountability requirements, new student performance measurements and a new assessment system.
“We’re still manning the ship that we currently have while at the same time trying to build a new ship as we go toward the new assessments,” said Deb Sigman, deputy superintendent at the CDE’s District, School & Innovation Branch.