Friday's PD: 21st Century Assessment

For our Professional Development time today we're going to begin by taking a close, first-hand look at what student assessment will look like in the very near future.  Not only will the kinds of questions being asked soon change, the testing interface itself is going to change radically, too.  Paper-and-pencil tests will soon be a thing of the past once PARCC is fully rolled-out.  Multiple guess, one-step problems will soon disappear as well.

Smarter Balanced the test,
not Smart Balance the "buttery spread"

You're probably already aware that assessment in the near future will require students to take tests on digital mobile devices such as iPads.  What you may be somewhat less aware of is that these new assessments will also require our students to answer cognitively rigorous questions, to find and write discrete answers, to interact physically and knowledgeably with the device, and to use one answer or set of answers to construct new, more complicated responses.

Like the PARCC Assessment, Smarter Balanced is a nationally-normed standardized assessment based on the Common Core State Standards.  It looks to me like they're a little bit ahead of the PARCC folks when it comes to implementing the online portions of their practice tests. So, we're going to use their stuff today knowing that PARCC will look and feel almost exactly the same.

(If you're curious, however, here's what PARCC's got going on -  sample items are in the left-hand sidebar - for practice/sample test items to date.  They're not iPad ready.  Not by a long-shot.)

Show this QR code
to i-nigma and then select "go online"
or simply click the link below to go to
Smarter Balanced practice tests

Using the Smarter Balanced sample tests on your iPad, here's what I'd like you to do during today's PD:
  • Login in to the practice test section at Smarter Balanced.  This is a multistep process in-and-of itself.  If you find the login process a little confusing, 
  • With your grade-level group, select a math or ELA test to complete... if your grade-level doesn't have a test (K, 1, 2) pick any other grade-level (3, 4, 5) to work on with the other members of your grade-level team.  
  • Feel free to work together on the first two items on the practice test, talking freely and openly with one another about what you think is expected and how you should go about solving the problem(s).
  • Once you've completed the first two exercises together, work on the next couple independently, coming together to discuss each subsequent item and your response to it as soon as everyone's had a chance to get it done.
  • Do this for the remainder of the time allotted (~20 min)
  • After you've had a chance to work on the practice/sample test items, work with your grade-level team-mates to complete this survey.  
  • Each member of your group should complete a survey, however you may decide to collaboratively respond to each item.
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