Teachers in the Lewiston School District have been involved with professional development to familiarize themselves with the Smarter Balanced Assessment protocols. The learning has included attending workshops, sponsored at the state and local level, where teachers have been provided resources and given opportunity to evaluate test items and preview sample tests.

Smarter Balanced assessments are seen as an integral component as Idaho schools continue to implement the new academic standards, the Idaho Core Standards, and work to prepare all students for success beyond high school. This field test will be used to evaluate the testing software, ensure the quality of assessment questions, and evaluate the effectiveness of the assessment administration and training materials. When the assessments become operational for the 2014-2015 school year, they will provide an “academic checkup” by measuring real-world skills, such as critical thinking and problem solving.

For more information about Smarter Balanced, please visit the website at http://www.smarterbalanced.org. On this site, users can find information about frequently asked questions, sample items and performance tasks, as well as practice tests.