California is just weeks away from learning whether its test of the test will pass or fail.
For nearly 12 weeks, beginning March 25, more than 3 million students in grades 3 through 8 and 11 will take the computer-based Smarter Balanced field, or practice, test aligned to the Common Core State Standards in math and English. But instead of assessing students’ skills, this year only, the exam – which was delayed a week from its previous March 18 start date – will be used to help officials evaluate the quality of the test questions to ensure that they’re valid and fair for all students, and it will assess the adequacy of computers and technology linking the state’s 10,000-plus schools to the Internet.
A grade 4 math practice question tests how well students understand factoring, divisibility and remainders. (Click to enlarge) Credit: Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium.
Student scores won’t matter until next spring, when the online tests officially replace the California Standards Tests and other assessments that formed the state’s Standardized Testing and Reporting program, known as STAR, for the past 15 years. Instead of the bubble-in, multiple-choice tests that have been the hallmark of standardized testing in the state, the online assessments will require students to demonstrate a deeper level of knowledge through persuasive writing, problem solving and explaining how they found their answers.
Judging by the numbers, California appears to have at least the minimum technology needed for the test. The
Online test will challenge students’ computer savvy - by Kathryn Baron
They can send two-thumbed text messages at the speed of light; deploy an infantry of firebats to quash a Zergling attack against the Terran species in StarCraft while doing their algebra homework; and take, edit ... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit the Edsource Today website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
