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Smarter Balanced Interim Assessments for Educators

A Step by Step Guide

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Agenda

This presentation is intended to be a self-paced guide for educators on the Interim Assessment Process. Topics include:

  • Resources
  • Access
  • Training (5 Modules, recommended in two parts)
  • Additional Resources
  • Support

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The Smarter Balanced System

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Interim Assessments

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Interim Assessments by Grade

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Note: Any Interims with items to hand score will only be scored once the test examiner submits scores in the Teacher Hand Scoring System

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Part I

  • Introduction and Test Security
  • Viewing System
  • Administering Interims

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Introduction to Smarter Balanced Interim Assessments (Including Test Security)

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6:35

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Standardized vs. Non-Standardized Administration

Standardized

Formal administration for the purpose of getting a result for individual students.

Non-standardized

Non-formal administration for use as a teaching tool.

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Security Considerations

  • Interim assessment materials are not for public use, display, or distribution.
  • These materials should not be
    • Shared with parents/guardians (use Content Explorer)
    • Reproduced in any form; or
    • Posted in any public place, including online (Google classroom, website, etc)

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All printed materials must be collected and securely stored/destroyed.

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Interim Assessment Viewing System

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3:06, 3:23, Request TOMS Account Here

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Administering the Interim Assessments

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7:38, 6:27, Manner of Administration Setting Tip Sheet (See Step 8)

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Part II

  • Hand Scoring System
  • Accessing Results in the California Educator Reporting System (CERS)

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How are Interims Scored?

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Machine Scoring vs.

Hand Scoring

Most items in interims are machine scored.

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Items that include student writing require teachers to score student responses using training materials, exemplars, answer keys and the Interim Assessment Hand Scoring System.

In 2021-22, over 10,000 Interims were administered in DSUSD.

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More than 4,000 student writing responses were left unscored.

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Reflect on the following question:

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What do we know about how the omission of feedback on student work?

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Interim Assessment Hand Scoring System

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3:44

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Interim Assessment Hand Scoring System Demonstrations (Including Training Guides and Exemplars)

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3:50, 7:08

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California Educator Reporting System (CERS)

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Houses historic summative CAASPP and ELPAC results and Interim Assessment results

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  • Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) requires that student data is only accessible to those with an educational need.
  • Students must be connected to teachers through a rostering system in CERS.
  • Site CAASPP Coordinators are responsible for creating and maintaining rosters.

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CERS Sandbox

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California Educator Reporting System (CERS)

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For Educators, 9:37

For Administrators, 8:31

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Additional CERS Resources

Interim Assessment User Guide

For instructions on how to use the California Educator Reporting System, please read the California Educator Reporting System User Guide (PDF)

In addition, the Smarter Balanced Interim Assessments Interpretive Guide (PDF) external icon is available to help educators, parents/guardians, and other stakeholders interpret interim assessment reports. The guide addresses questions of how to evaluate group, student, and item-level data from these assessments to improve teaching and learning.

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For Site Coordinators: Creating Groups in the Reporting System [6:50]

  • Coordinators must create groups in CERS, to connect teachers and students, for teachers to view student results.

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Part III

  • Then What?

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Tools for Teachers

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Interim Assessment Item Portal

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Non-Standardized with teacher leading a group activity

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Link to last year’s TfT presentation by Kate Keener - Slides 6-22

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Interim Assessment Item Portal

(requires TOMS account for full access)

  • View individual test questions through the IAIP within Tools for Teachers

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What’s the difference between the Interim Assessment Item Portal, the Interim Viewing System, and an Interim Administered in a Non-Standardized manner ?

Item Portal

For use by teachers only

  • Planning
  • Whole class instruction
  • Must be logged into your TOMS account (which students should never have access to)

Non-Standardized Administration

For use by students:

  • Warm-ups
  • Exit tickets
  • Collaborative work
  • Through Test Administrator Interface
  • This is the only place a student should be in the CAASPP System

Viewing System

For use by teachers:

  • Planning
  • Professional development

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Interim Connections Playlists

Each Interim has a connections playlist in Tools for Teachers to support teaching and learning.

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Connections playlists can be accessed through CERS or Tools for Teachers.

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Note: For full access to Tools for Teachers, you need to be logged into you TOMS account.

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TOMS accounts are reset by the state each year and a new one must be requested.

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Request a TOMS Account for Testing

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Content Explorer

Explore

Test Development and Design

Support

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Additional Resources

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Your Best Resources: bit.ly/aawebsite

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Teacher CAASPP & ELPAC Resources

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Interim Assessments by Grade

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Additional Resources

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How Do I Get Started?

Learn about the Interim Assessment System from this presentation

Request a TOMS account (coming soon for 2022-23) to access:

  • The Interim Viewing System
  • Test Administrator Interface
  • Completion Reports
  • Results in the California Educator Reporting System

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Note: TOMS accounts are active for one school year only, through June. At that time, you must request a new TOMS account.

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Back to School Assessment Playbook

  • guidance on choosing and using the right instructional resources and strategies,
  • recommendations on teaching and measuring the highest priority content in each subject, and
  • information about the unique role of the Interim Comprehensive Assessment (ICA), which measures a similar range of content as the summative assessment and assesses similar claims, targets, and standards.

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Tools for Teachers

(requires TOMS account for full access)

  • The Tools for Teachers resource page includes lessons, activities, and more that incorporate the formative assessment process and accessibility strategies. Connections Playlists can be found here.

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Smarter Content Explorer

This video provides an introduction to the Smarter Balanced Content Explorer website. The Smarter Content Explorer is a tool that highlights the connections between content standards and assessment targets. This video will provide navigation tips to access grade-level content information for English language arts and mathematics and review the connection between content standards and Smarter Balanced assessment claims and targets.

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Support for Interim Assessments

Each school has a designated CAASPP Coordinator who is your contact for all CAASPP system questions.

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CERS Demonstration

  • Creating Rosters for CERS