Higher Education Recognition Plan
Each state in the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium was asked to submit a plan by the end of July 2012 describing how the following goals would be achieved:
- Initiate discussions between all higher education institutions in the state and key representatives of the K-12 community about the Common Core State Standards and the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium;
- Achieve both broad and deep involvement of higher education institutions in the development of the SBAC assessments; and
- By spring of 2014, all higher education institutions in the state will recognize the 11th grade SBAC summative assessment as a determiner of college readiness.
This document is the plan that was submitted by Idaho.
Common Assessment
This link takes you to the Idaho State Department of Education web page devoted to the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC). The page provides a brief overview of the initiative and links to eight documents and two additional web sites covering a wide variety of information about the SBAC and the tests that are being developed. For example, there is an FAQ document specifically for Idaho along with the Memorandum of Understanding that Idaho entered into when it became a governing state in the Consortium.
Communications Research and Guidance on the Common Core State Standards
This Powerpoint presentation about the Common Core State Standards provides information about the standards and results from research exploring how well known the standards are by various constituencies. The slides also outline communication plans for the future.
A Summary of Core Components of the Smarter Balanced Assessment System
This is a one page overview of the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium. It explains the connection between the Consortium and the Common Core State Standards initiative. It also provides a good summary of the assessments that are being developed.
Frequently Asked Questions: Smarter Balanced and Higher Education
This document lists a series of questions and responses about the interface between Smarter Balanced and higher education. Examples of questions that are posed and then answered include: What is the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium? What kinds of tests is Smarter Balanced developing? How do the Common Core State Standards define college and career readiness? Were college and university faculty involved in establishing this definition?
Smarter Balanced and Higher Education: Preparing Young People for Postsecondary Success
This two page document provides a brief overview of the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium and its key features. It also provides a brief description of the Common Core State Standards. The document closes with a discussion of higher education’s role in these initiatives. The second page is a state-by-state list of the Smarter Balanced higher education representatives (called Higher Education Leads) and their contact information.
Using the Common Core State Standards to Align High School Exit Expectations and Postsecondary Entrance Expectations: A Rubric for Engaging Postsecondary Education
The rubric provides a series of statements with response scales that are structured to help stakeholders assess the current level of collaboration between higher education and k-12 education concerning Common Core State Standards (CCSS) implementation. The following comes directly from the introduction to the rubric: “The rubric is meant to be used as an assessment tool and a guide to good practice in the process of aligning CCSS to postsecondary expectations. It supports thoughtful and candid assessment, so education leaders can judge the likelihood their process will lead to success. The rubric also is designed to guide the content of the work as educators engage in these courageous conversations. (p. 2)”
Smarter Balanced Higher Education Presentation
This Powerpoint presentation provides an introduction to the Common Core State Standards and the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium. The slides when taken in total provide a thorough overview plus important details about the make-up of the Smarter Balanced assessments, what it means to be college and career ready, and higher education’s role in this work.
