Greetings!
We are sending our Policy Update out early this month because there are a number of issues we'd like to keep you informed about.
As our last update mentioned, the Oregon Board of Education voted on adoption of the Common Core standards last week. The Board did vote to adopt both the K-12 English Language Arts standards and the Math standards. The standards are intended to be basic guidelines for the skills and knowledge students should learn as they move through their education, in order to prepare them for their next steps in life.
Read more about the standards at http://www.corestandards.org/
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SMARTER Balanced Consortium
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Oregon, as part of a consortium of states, is helping to develop a new assessment system that would align with the Common Core standards. Called the SMARTER Balanced Assessment Consortium, the group received federal funds to develop the new system and provide a model for any state to adopt. The key components the Consortium is working on are:
- the required summative exams;
- optional formative, or benchmark, exams; and
- a variety of tools, processes and practices that teachers may use in planning and implementing informal, ongoing assessment. This will assist teachers in understanding what students are and are not learning on a daily basis so they can adjust instruction accordingly.
The next steps the consortium plans to take include: - Winter 2010:
- Post user-friendly crosswalk document for CCSS (Common Core) mathematical standards. Assist teachers in comparing new CCSS to current Oregon standards, allowing determination of grade-level movement of content
- Create "packets" with handouts and powerpoints that can be used with district staff in math standards awareness campaign
- Spring-Summer 2010:
- Create statewide implementation team to draft comprehensive implementation blueprint
- Re-examine state policies to ensure alignment with Diploma requirements
For more information about the SMARTER Balanced Consortium, go to: http://www.k12.wa.us/smarter/default.aspx
Do you have questions or comments about the plans for the new assessment system? Join the conversation on ChalkBloggers.
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