2020-21 Interim Assessments Overview - SmarterBalanced

2020-21Interim Assessments OverviewThe Smarter Balanced AssessmentSystem consists of three components:end-of-year summative assessmentsdesigned for accountability purposes,interim assessments designedto support teaching and learningthroughout the year, and a suiteof tools and resources in Tools forTeachers that support classroombased formative assessmentpractices.This document describes the interim assessments, including their purpose, use, andvarieties. For each grade and subject, this document provides a list of all interimassessments available for the 2020-21 school year.ContentsTypes of Interim Assessments 2Features of Interim Assessments 2Interim Assessments at a Glance 2Using Interim Assessments 3Standardized vs. Non-standardized Administrations 3Administering Interim Assessments 3Teacher Hand Scoring 3Interim Assessment Security 3New for the 2020–21 School Year 4New for ELA/Literacy 4New for Mathematics 42020-21 ELA/Literacy Interim Assessments 52020-21 Mathematics Interim Assessments 12 2020 The Regents of the University of California Rev. 6/29/20201

Types of InterimAssessmentsSmarter Balanced offers different types ofinterim assessments based on the granularity ofthe content they assess.Interim Comprehensive Assessments (ICAs)measure similar content to the summativeassessment and may be helpful for determiningthe knowledge and skills of students who are newto the district or the state. ICAs can also provideinformation about students’ knowledge and skillsafter a significant period of instruction.the assessment. The playlists include links toinstructional resources in Tools for Teachersthat support the formative assessment processby providing tools, resources, and instructionalstrategies to use in the classroom.The ICAs, IABs, and Focused IABs draw from thesame bank of items and performance tasks.Features of InterimAssessments Flexible administration options bettersupport local purposes.Interim Assessment Blocks (IABs) areassessments teachers can use throughout theschool year to assess smaller bundles of content.They are intended to provide educators andstudents the ability to check where they are atthat moment in time, and educators can useresults to determine next steps for instruction.Since the IABs are more granular than the ICAs,educators can use IABs during the school yearmore consistently with the sequence of theircurricula. Items include all the accessibility resourcesavailable in the summative assessment tohelp provide accurate results for students.Focused IABs assess no more than threeassessment targets to provide educators with amore detailed understanding of student learning. cover the range of Depth of Knowledgedescribed in the Common Core StateStandards (CCSS).Each IAB and Focused IAB is associated witha Connections Playlist that supports teachersin determining instructional next steps tohelp students based on their performance on Student performance on InterimComprehensive Assessments is reportedon the same scoring scale as the summativeassessment. They may be used to measure students’knowledge and skills in grade levels otherthan the students’ enrolled grades. They include rigorous items that: allows educators access to view the testquestions and their students’ responsesto the test questions as part of educators’instructional process to address students’relative strengths and needs for improvement.INTERIM ASSESSMENTS AT A mentBlocksFocused InterimAssessmentBlocksAssess the full rangeof targets, similar to the summative.Assess 3–8 targets inMath or ELA/literacy.Assess 1–3 targets inMath or ELA/literacy.Examples: Grade 3 ELA Grade 3 MathExamples: Grade 3 ELA, Reading Literary Texts Grade 3 Math, Operations andAlgebraic ThinkingExamples: Grade 3 ELA, Text Analysis (Literary) Grade 3 Math: Multiply and DivideWithin 100 2019 The Regents of the University of California Rev. 6/29/20192

Using Interim AssessmentsInterim assessments can serve a variety ofeducator needs. To better support the rangeof possible uses consistent with the policies ofmember education agencies, educators mayestablish the timeframe, administration policies,and scoring practices for interim assessments.However, interim assessments are not intendedto be used for accountability purposes.Standardized vs. Non-standardizedAdministrationsInterims can be administered in bothstandardized and non-standardized ways inthe classroom. In a traditional, standardizedadministration, educators assign each studentan interim assessment to take individually, andeducators can use students’ results as part ofthe formative assessment process. Educatorscan also use interim assessments for nonstandardized administrations by displaying itemsto a class using a service provider’s item viewerapplication for students to answer on paper, insmall groups, or as a class discussion. Also in anon-standardized administration, educators canconduct instructional activities, such as elicitingevidence from students using white boards,incorporating peer feedback while administeringbrief writes or performance tasks, or using anitem to set up students working in small groups.Administering Interim AssessmentsInterim assessments are administered online anduse the same delivery software as the summativeassessments. Members have the flexibility tore-administer interim assessments any numberof times. These decisions should be made aspart of a larger assessment context that includesthe purpose of the interim assessment, howthe interim assessment will be scored, and howthe data from the interim assessment will beused to improve teaching and learning. Interimassessment reports can be generated fromthe Smarter Balanced or member-designatedreporting systems.The ICAs, IABs, and Focused IABs contain 2020 The Regents of the University of California Rev. 6/29/2020a number of overlapping items. Therefore,students who take interim assessments morethan once, or who take them in the same gradelevels and content areas, may see the same itemsmore than once. As more interim assessmentitems are available, the ICAs, IABs, and FocusedIABs will have fewer overlapping items.Teacher Hand ScoringMost items in the interim assessments will bescored via the computer. However, there are sometest questions that need to be hand scored. Inmathematics, hand scoring is only required forperformance tasks. In ELA, some constructedresponse items and performance tasks, includingthe full write, require hand scoring. This is alocal/state responsibility. The Smarter BalancedTeacher Hand-scoring System or a service providerhand-scoring system allows educators to scorestudent responses using the same scoring rulesas the summative assessment. Smarter Balancedprovides hand-scoring training materials includingrubrics and sample responses for use by educatorswho will score student responses. Hand scoring isa valuable professional development activity thatprovides educators with an understanding of thescoring process and the expectations for studentlearning. Hand scoring can help inform educators’instruction by better understanding students’strengths and weaknesses.Interim AssessmentSecurityThe interim assessments are consideredstudent- and teacher-facing only. Thisdesignation provides educators the flexibilityto access the test questions and their students’responses to the test questions. However,interim assessments must not be publiclydisplayed or distributed outside the classroomto ensure all educators can use the interimassessments as intended unless in a mannerconsistent with distance teaching. Onlyauthorized local educational agency staff andstudents should have access to the interimassessments. Finally, interim assessment itemsmust not be copied into third party systemswithout the permission of Smarter Balanced.3

Interim ComprehensiveAssessments (ICAs)Interim AssessmentBlocks (IABs)Focused IABsWhattheymeasureICAs measure a similar rangeof content as the summativeassessments and assess similarclaims, targets, and standards.IABs assess 3–8 targets.Focused IABs assess 1–3targets.TestformatICAs are fixed-form tests.IABs are fixed-form tests.Focused IABs are fixed-formtests.Kinds oftest itemsICAs include the same item types andformats, including performance tasks,as the summative assessments.IABs include the same itemtypes and formats, includingperformance tasks, as thesummative assessments.Focused IABs includethe same item types andformats as the summativeassessments.ReportingresultsICAs yield overall scale scores (onthe same vertical scale), overallperformance level designations,and claim-level information as thesummative assessments.Results are reported as“Below Standard,” “At/Near Standard,” and “AboveStandard.”Results are reported as“Below Standard,” “At/NearStandard,” and “AboveStandard.”Each IAB is associatedwith a Connections Playlistthat supports teachers bydescribing actions they maytake to help their studentsbased on their performanceon the assessment. Playlistsinclude links to instructionalresources in Tools forTeachers that support theformative assessmentprocess by providing tools,resources, and instructionalstrategies.Each Focused IABis associated with aConnections Playlist thatsupports teachers bydescribing actions they maytake to help their studentsbased on their performanceon the assessment. Playlistsinclude links to instructionalresources in Tools forTeachers that support theformative assessmentprocess by providing tools,resources, and instructionalstrategies.Claim-level information results arereported as “Below Standard,” “At/Near Standard,” and “Above Standard.”Resourcesfor nextstepsEducators can search Tools forTeachers for relevant resourcesby filtering for a given grade level,subject, and claim.New: Tools for TeachersTools for Teachers is a new website forinstructional resources and professionaldevelopment. Created by educators, the websitefeatures lessons and activities to supportinstruction. It is designed to save educators timein lesson planning, to boost student learning, andto help educators find the strategies that workfor students with diverse needs. 2020 The Regents of the University of California Rev. 6/29/2020Features include: interactive Connections Playlists educatorscan use with interim assessments, high-quality resources aligned to learningstandards, formative assessment strategies embeddedin every resource, and accessibility instructional strategies.4

2020–21 ELA/LITERACY INTERIM ASSESSMENTSELA: Grade 3Interim Comprehensive Assessment (ICA)Assessment NameTargets AssessedGrade 3 ELA ICA¹Full range of targetsInterim Assessment Blocks (IABs)Assessment NameTargets AssessedRead Literary Texts¹Claim 1, Targets 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7Read Informational Texts¹Claim 1, Targets 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14Brief Writes¹Claim 2, Targets 1a, 3a, 6aRevisionClaim 2, Targets 1b, 3b, 6bResearchClaim 4, Targets 2, 3, 4Performance Task¹Claim 2, Target 7; and Claim 4, Targets 2, 3, or 4FocusedAssessment NameTargets AssessedLanguage and Vocabulary Use (Writing)Claim 2, Target 8: Language & Vocabulary UseEditingClaim 2, Target 9: EditingResearch: Interpret and Integrate InformationClaim 4, Target 2: Interpret & Integrate InformationListen/InterpretClaim 3, Target 4: Listen and InterpretResearch: Analyze InformationClaim 4, Target 3: Analyze Information/SourcesWrite and Revise Narratives¹Claim 2, Target 1a: Write Brief Texts; 1b: Revise Brief Texts¹ Includes at least one item that is hand-scored 2020 The Regents of the University of California Rev. 6/29/20205