Kansas has decided to pull out of the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium and use tests designed by its state university instead.
The state school board voted last month to withdraw from the consortium. The Center for Educational Testing and Evaluation at the University of Kansas, which has been designing the state’s tests for more than 30 years, will continue in that capacity. A machine-scored common-core test is expected to be ready for the state this year, and the 2015 version will include a writing prompt and performance tasks as well.