Smarter Balanced Testing and Business Leaders: Preparing Students to Perform in Your Company
Smarter Balanced is a state-led consortium creating new student tests for the 2014-2015 school year and beyond. With nearly two-thirds of all jobs requiring at least some post-high school education, the business community can play a critical role in encouraging the change needed to ensure that students are graduating high school prepared for college and employment. Schools and districts across the country are working now to prepare for the full scale implementation of the new test system.
What Gets Measured Gets Managed
• Our current testing system in the U.S. is composed mainly of multiple choice questions and rewards our future workforce for basic rote memorization of facts.
• The Consortium is creating a new generation of performance tests that require students to apply knowledge, get things done and demonstrate an ability to solve complex problems.
Preparing Students to Meet Workplace Goals Business leaders need employees who can put skills and knowledge to work to solve problems. Research has proven that when students are required to apply knowledge, their understanding and retention is deepened. To compete in the global market, we must better prepare students to excel professionally and contribute to our economy. Smarter Balanced tests will measure progress toward college and career readiness, providing information for teachers and parents about where students are excelling and where they need more development.
Raising the Bar for our Future Workforce Until recently, each state developed its own education standards and tests. Today, 45 states are implementing updated standards, which define the knowledge and skills students need in order to succeed in college and best perform in your company. Smarter Balanced tests are aligned to these updated standards in English language arts/literacy and mathematics. The tests will be administered online for students in grades 3-8 and 11 to ensure they’re on track to become valuable employees for your company. For the first time, all students will be held to the same high standards and we will have achievement results that will be comparable nationwide.
Get Involved:
• Learn more about the Common Core State Standards: http://www.corestandards.org/.
• Learn more about Smarter Balanced and sign up for a monthly eNewsletter: http://www.smarterbalanced.org/.
• Learn more about California’s implementation of Smarter Balanced: http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/tg/sa/smarterbalanced.asp.
• Invite local school leaders to speak at your next chamber meeting about their efforts to help students graduate college- and career-ready.
• Publicly support college- and career-ready standards and assessments in newsletters, letters to the editor and speeches.
Now is the Time to Get Involved There is much work to be done before the full scale implementation of the test system in 2014–2015. By getting involved now, business leaders have the opportunity to work in partnership with schools and districts and shape new policies and practices that are being put into place. smarterbalanced.org acce.org
