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Bennett, Liz — Sun, 03 May 2015 23:02:05 GMT

Preparing students for success on the new Smarter Balanced assessment

This spring, South Dakota will begin using a new state assessment, called Smarter Balanced, that is based on the state's standards in English language arts and math. This test is administered to students in grades 3-8 and 11. It will replace the Dakota STEP test in English and math. The test was developed by the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium, a group of 22 states, including South Dakota. More than 100 South Dakota educators served on Smarter Balanced work groups as the test was being developed.

The Smarter Balanced assessment was field tested in spring 2014. That practice run gave our district's teachers and schools a chance to practice test administration procedures, and students the opportunity to experience what will be expected of them on the new assessment. Since the field test, a number of South Dakota educators have served on panels to help set achievement levels for the new test.

Delivered entirely online, the Smarter Balanced assessment offers significant improvements over multiple choice, paper-and-pencil tests of the past. Students now have the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge in a variety of ways. Writing is required at every grade level, and performance tasks ask students to demonstrate an array of research, writing and problem solving skills. This variety in test items means test results will provide a more meaningful picture of what students know and can do. The new test also offers expanded accessibility features to better meet the needs of all students.

Because the new assessment measures student mastery of new, more rigorous standards, student performance on Smarter Balanced shouldnot be compared to performance on Dakota STEP. Any time a new test is introduced, there will be a period of adjustment as students become familiar with the new concepts being assessed. If you must compare results of the two tests, expect to see a drop in the number of students demonstrating proficiency (Levels 3 and 4). This should not be cause for alarm; it means we are challenging students and preparing them for the rigors of postsecondary education and careers in today's world.

It is also important to remember that your child's score on the state assessment only reflects their performance at one moment in time. Throughout the school year, your student's teachers continually measure his or her progress through a variety of methods.

We encourage you to try a practice test by visiting http://commoncore.sd.gov/assessment.aspx.

How To Use This Library

Bennett, Liz — Sun, 03 May 2015 23:02:04 GMT

How to use this wiki library
You can use this wiki library to share knowledge, brainstorm ideas, collaborate with your team on a design, create an instruction guide, build an encyclopedia of knowledge, or just write down daily information in an easily accessible and modifiable format.

Editing pages
To edit this page, click on the Edit Page icon at the top of the page. To see all available commands, click on the Page tab. When you are editing, you can type text onto the page or insert tables and pictures. To stop editing, click the Save button at the top of the page. If you leave the page while editing, you will be prompted to save your changes.

Creating wiki links
You can link to another page in this wiki library by enclosing the name of the page in double brackets. When you type [[, the wiki will suggest page names that start with what you've typed. You can select one of these pages using the arrow keys or the mouse, or you can type in a new name. If you type in a new name, it will make a link to a page which has not yet been created. Links are finished by typing ]]. If you are linking to a page in a subfolder or an item in another list, you can press tab to add the selected suggested item to your link without closing the link.

You can link to many objects in SharePoint, not just pages. Here are some examples of links:
[[Dogs]] : A link to a page named Dogs in the same folder.
[[Animals/Dogs]] : A link to a page named Dogs in a subfolder called Animals.
[[List:Announcements/Welcome]] : A link to the item called Welcome in the Announcements list on this site.

To create a link to a page and have the link display different text than the page name, type a pipe character (|) after the page name, and then type the display text. For example, type [[Home|Home Page]] to create the link labeled Home Page that points to the page named Home.

To display double opening or closing brackets without making a link, type a backslash before the two brackets. For example, \[[ or \]].

Creating pages
There are two main ways to create a new page in your wiki library:

Create a link to a page which does not exist and then click on it to create the page:
This is the recommended way to create a page because it is easier for people to find the page when another page links to it. Links to pages that do not yet exist have a dashed underline.

Create a page that is not linked to any other:
In the Settings menu, click Add a page. This will ask you for a name and then create that page in the current wiki library.

Managing your wiki library
You can manage the pages in your wiki library by clicking View All Pages on the Page tab of any page in the library.

Restoring a page
If you need to restore a previous version of a page, click Previous Versions in the Page tab at the top of the page. You can then click on any of the versions in the quick launch to view the page as it existed at that time. If you want to restore to a version, select it and click Restore this version in the toolbar.

Viewing incoming links
You can see which pages link to the current page by clicking Incoming Links at the top of the page. This will show you any pages which link to this page.

For more information about using Microsoft SharePoint Foundation-based wiki libraries, click Help on any Microsoft SharePoint Foundation page.

Parent Resources: Smarter Balanced Testing

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