PAGE 1
Consortia Provide Preview of Common Tests
- The Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium recently released sample test items for the common assessments:
Sample items for the English/language arts exams:
• 5th grade selected-response item
• 6th grade sample task
• 11th grade constructed-response item
Sample item for math exams:
• 6th grade sample math performance task - The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for Colleges and Careers released sample items as well.
PAGE 6
Study: Schools Suspend Black Students Three Times More Often Than Whites
- “Opportunities Suspended: The Disparate Impact of Disciplinary Exclusion From School” is by the Civil Rights Project/Proyecto Derechos Civiles at the University of California-Los Angeles.
PAGE 8
Task Force Formed to Sway Teacher-Prep Rules
- “Can Value-Added Be Applied to Teacher Preparation? Scholars Weigh In” (Teacher Beat Blog, August 9, 2012) gives an overview of recent studies on the “value added” method and teacher preparation.
