Category Archives: SBAC

Free Resources I’m Using to Help with SBAC and CCSS

Posted on August 22, 2015 by Aaron Grossman

Trying to have students secure all of the skills and content they will need to be successful with the Common Core, the Nevada Academic Content Standards, and Smarter Balanced can feel daunting. (Rather, IT IS daunting.) Consequently, I am trying … Continue reading →

Posted in Common Core State Standards, SBAC | Tagged CCSS, free, noredink, NVACS, SBAC, Smarter Balanced, typingclub | Leave a comment

How “Practice Retrieving It” Leads to Greater Retention

Posted on February 20, 2015 by Aaron Grossman

Does more studying lead to higher test scores? The answer isn’t no but it turns out that a better strategy to retain information is a combination of studying and testing. Dr. Henry Roediger, citing work done by he and his colleague … Continue reading →

Posted in SBAC | Tagged Dr. Henry Roediger, Franklin Zaromb, Studying, testing | Leave a comment

35 Mini-Assessments Added to 63000Resources.com

Posted on February 8, 2015 by Aaron Grossman

The full set of Mini-Assessments has been added to http://www.63000resources.com through the link here. The Mini-Assessments are well aligned to the Next Generation Assessments and teachers throughout Washoe have discovered that they are a good gauge of how students are … Continue reading →

Posted in SBAC | Tagged assessments, Common Core, Great Fire, Marco Polo, SBAC, Swans, Walk Two Moons | Leave a comment

ELA Mini Assessments

Posted on January 27, 2015 by Aaron Grossman

This is a belated post on the Mini Assessments (MA) we used in Session 3 or the Core Task implementation Project. The MA’s can be used to formatively gauge student growth on important literary dispositions including working with academic vocabulary; … Continue reading →

Posted in SBAC | Tagged 3rd, 4th, 5th, Archaeology, assessments, ELA, Marco Polo, Walk Two Moons | Leave a comment

Shanahan on Test Preparation—What not to do

Posted on January 21, 2015 by Aaron Grossman

In a presentation titled, “What Not to do to Prepare for the Assessments,”Common Core Work Team Member Dr. Timothy Shanahan share some provocative insights into PARCC and SBAC. Among these is his claim that test preparation likely does not work. … Continue reading →

Posted in SBAC | Tagged Common Core, PARCC, Practice Test, SBAC, Shanahan | Leave a comment

‘How and How Not to Prepare Students for the New Tests’

Posted on November 18, 2014 by Aaron Grossman

A popular question, since Nevada officially adopted the SBAC Test for the 2014-2015, is how to best prepare students for the coming assessments. I certainly have an opinion and have consistently noted that if you take full advantage of well-vetted … Continue reading →

Posted in SBAC | Tagged Common Core, Document Based Questions, Nevada, SBAC, Test Preparation | Leave a comment

Assessment and the Common Core

Posted on September 12, 2014 by Aaron Grossman

In the video linked here, David Pearson, former dean of the Graduate School of Education at University California, Berkeley, moves viewers through the coming PARCC and SBAC assessments and the implications for instruction. At minute 5:47, he begins an overview … Continue reading →

Posted in SBAC | Tagged assessment, Common Core, deeper learning, PARCC, SBAC | Leave a comment

Spanish Springs HS Students Explain SBAC and Field Testing

Posted on March 28, 2014 by Aaron Grossman

Students at Spanish Springs High School created a terrific video to explain the new Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortia (SBAC) test. The video is clear and on point in helping all stakeholders understand the implications of SBAC and the field testing … Continue reading →

Posted in SBAC | Tagged assessment, CCSS, Common Core, field testing, high school, SBAC, Spanish Springs HS, Washoe, WCSD | Leave a comment

Performance Tasks, an Overview (samples linked)

Posted on March 18, 2014 by Aaron Grossman

The Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium has produced a video tutorial describing Performance Tasks. A Performance Task “measures capabilities such as depth of understanding, research skills, and/or complex analysis with relevant evidence.” There will be one Performance Task per content area … Continue reading →

Posted in SBAC | Tagged CCSS, Common Core, Grade 11, Grade 4, Grade 6, performance tasks, SBAC, tutorial, video | Leave a comment

Free Programs to Help Students Learn to Type

Posted on January 20, 2014 by Aaron Grossman

As many of you know, portions of the 2014-2015 PARCC and SBAC assessments will require students to type their responses to questions. (You can take the SBAC practice test here.) Consequently, there is a renewed push to help students become … Continue reading →

Posted in CCSS, SBAC | Tagged CCSS, Common Core, elementary, free, keyboarding, PARCC, SBAC, tutorial, typing | Leave a comment