Things have certainly been hopping this week with various multi-state organizations preparing to spend millions of dollars from the Department of Education to develop the “next generation” of state testing. There are two tracks going on — one primarily geared towards more “mainstream” students and the other focusing on English Language Learner assessment. This seemed to be a good time to bring together a few posts and articles about what’s been going on. Feel free to contribute other suggestions.
The past posts that I’ve written and have included in this “The Best…” list also include links to other excellent related resources.
You might also be interested in The Best Resources For Learning About Common Core Standards & English Language Learners.
Here are my choices for The Best Resources For Learning About The “Next Generation” Of State Testing:
One of the reasons I’m writing this post today is because the state of California announced today that they were joining the SMARTER Consortium — one of the two groups developing the tests for more “mainstream” students. I’m pleased with that decision (my posts on this list give the reasons why). You can read more information about that decision here. You can also read California Takes Sides in Assessment Development Work at Education Week.
You can read about some of the politics going on behind that choice at the Thoughts on Public Education blog.
A Vision for ELL Inclusion in Tests Pegged to the ‘Common Core’
Making ‘Common Core’ Tests Accessible to All Students is by Mary Ann Zehr at Ed Week.
Common Assessments: More Details Emerge is from Education Week.
New Details Surface About Common Assessments is from Education Week.
New Assessments for the Common Core State Standards has the latest information (April, 2012) for the upcoming “next generation” standardized assessments.
A Test Worth Teaching To is from The Washington Monthly.
New online tests hold promise, perils is from The Hechinger Report.
The Best Picture — So Far — Of What The Next Generation Of Standardized Tests Is Going To Look Like
More Samples From The Next Generation Of Standardized Tests
Here are my previous posts on the topic:
The Next Generation Of State Tests
Consortia Flesh Out Visions for Common Tests comes from Ed Week.
Want To Learn About The Next Generation Of Tests We’ll Be Giving Our Students?
How Should Teachers Respond To The Development Of New State Assessments?
States Anticipate Technology Challenges With Common Tests is from Ed Week.
“New Tool to Provide Tech Inventory for Common Core” — I Can Hardly Wait (NOT)
Standardized Tests Of Tomorrow Behind Schedule, According To Insider Survey is from The Huffington Post.
Common Assessments: More Than Two Games In Town is from Education Week.
ELL and Spec. Ed. Advisors Named for Common Assessment Group is from Education Week.
What to test instead is from The Boston Globe, and is very interesting. It’s subtitle is:
A new wave of test designers believe they can measure creativity, problem solving, and collaboration – and that a smarter exam could change education.
I’ve got to say, though, I’m a bit skeptical of some of their claims….
Smarter Balanced, PARCC Team Up To Fund Future Operations is from Education Week.
Two Versions of ‘Common’ Test Eyed by State Consortium is also from Ed Week.
Are new online standardized tests revolutionary? Decide for yourself is from The HechingerEd blog.
Are You Tech-Ready for the Common Core? is from Education Week.
Adaptive Testing Evolves to Assess Common-Core Skills is from Education Week.
Common Core Tech. Demands Raise Budget Worries is from Education Week.
Great uncertainty over direction of state standardized tests is an article over at Ed Source that does an extraordinarily good job at describing the many challenges involved in the “next generation” of state testing. It specifically discusses California, but I suspect the issues are similar in many other places.
Will school computers be able to handle new testing technology? is from The Hechinger Report.
Assessment Group Cuts Back Diagnostic, Formative Work is from Education Week.
New student tests to focus less on memory is from The San Francisco Chronicle.
Common Assessments Hold Promise, Face Challenges, Study Finds is from Education Week.
Common Core State Standards: 2014 is a Year Away is from Learning First.
Testing Group Scales Back Performance Items: Fewer Performance Items on Common-Core Exams is from Education Week.
Commission Calls for ‘Radically Different’ Tests is from Education Week.
Assessment Group To Begin Testing Common Core Platform is also from Ed Week.
Are Schools Prepared for Online State Assessments? is by Peter DeWitt at Education Week.
Consorting with consortia is from CCSSI Mathematics.
Test Groups Weigh Unified Accommodations Policies is from Education Week.
Why Common Core tests won’t be what Arne Duncan promised is by Valerie Strauss at The Washington Post.
A Tough New Test Spurs Protest and Tears is from The New York Times.
PARCC Releases Draft Policy on ELL Accommodations is from Education Week.
The end of the testing consortia as we know it? is an intriguing post from The Fordham Institute.
Standards-based tests and public schooling is from The Economist.
There has also been a lot of recent movement in a parallel effort by states seeking funding from the Department of Education to develop common tests for English Language Learners. I’ve previously written about the concerns I have about this move at Wasting Money On New Tests For English Language Learners.
Mary Ann Zehr at the Learning The Language blog at Education Week has been providing excellent coverage of the two multi-state groups leading that effort (I haven’t taken the time to compare these groups with the mainstream testing groups, but it would be interesting to see if the make-up of each is similar). Here are her recent posts and articles:
Draft Rules Point Way to Consistency in ELL Policies
Calif., Wis. Take Lead to Propose ELL Tests for ‘Common Core’
WIDA Tally: Montana and Maryland Join Consortium
At Proposals for English-Proficiency Tests for the ‘Common Core’, Mary Ann Zehr at Education Week shares links to the proposals to create new state assessments for English Language Learners.
“Common Core ELL Assessment Will Be Developed by Wisc. Consortium”
Questions Arise Over Grants for ELL Tests is from Education Week.
California Works on New English-Language Development Standards is from The Learning The Language blog at Ed Week. It includes some important information about the next generation of language testing.
Ore. Wins Federal Grant for New English-Language Proficiency Exam is from Learning The Language at Ed Week.
“California Drops Out of ELL Assessment Consortium”
Push Is On for Common Ways to Identify ELLs is from Ed Week.
WIDA Forges Ahead With New English-Language Proficiency Test is from Learning The Language.
A Closer Look at ELL Assessment Group Led by Oregon is from Learning The Language.
Feedback is welcome.
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February 3, 2013 at 7:27 am
Larry: This looks like a great resource for people who want to better know the enemy, which in my mind is the test culture and what it does to turn off kids and teachers. I hope your readers devote as much time reaching out to policy makers to see if we can stop the madness sooner as opposed to later. I lead a conversation at EduCon 2.5 last week on what we can do while we are waiting for the tests as we know them to go away. Here is the link to what thirty educators from all over the U.S. came up with. http://bit.ly/X7C4aE Keep up the great work and thanks for all you do.
April 6, 2013 at 4:46 pm
Just finished piloting the SBAC for 9th ELA. It’s interesting. Better by far but way more mental work for the kids and still a test judging random things rather than classroom based instruction. Probably can’t do much more detail than that but I see a ton of challenges ahead in terms of simply the infrastructure of it with every kid needing a computer.