On behalf of the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (Smarter Balanced) and the Connecticut State Department of Education, CTB/McGraw-Hill invites educators to participate in Item Development and Range Finding opportunities.
Smarter Balanced is developing an assessment system for mathematics and English Language Arts (ELA)/literacy that is aligned to the Common Core State Standards. The development involves educators, researchers, policymakers, and community groups in a transparent consensus-driven process to help all students strive for success in a global economy.
The Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium places strong value on educator participation in the design of the items and tasks that will form the assessment system. The active involvement of educators supports the sustainability of the assessment system and builds capacity among states.
1. Mathematics and English Language Arts/Literacy Item Development Opportunities
Educators who meet the qualifications outlined below are invited to apply to develop mathematics and English language arts/literacy (ELA/literacy) items for the Field Test to be administered in 2013-2014.
· Currently certified to teach ELA/literacy and/or mathematics in a K-12 public school.
· Currently teaching in a Connecticut public school or are currently employed by a public school or district or state education entity, including higher education.
· Taught ELA/literacy and/or mathematics in Grades 3 through 8 and/or high school within the past three years or have worked in a classroom content support role such as a literacy or mathematics coach, district or state content specialist, etc.
· Previously reviewed the Common Core State Standards for the content area in which they are interested in writing items and/or performance tasks.
All educators who are interested in serving as an item or performance task writer must submit a statement of interest that is at least one paragraph in length that describes (a) the reason(s) for their interest in developing items and/or performance tasks for the Smarter Balanced assessment system and (b) their qualifications for doing so.
The Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium places strong value on educator participation in the design of the items and tasks that will form the assessment system. The active involvement of educators supports the sustainability of the assessment system and builds capacity among states.
CTB/McGraw-Hill is recruiting educators to participate in item development of selected-response (SR) and constructed-response (CR) mathematics and English language arts/literacy (ELA/literacy) items. Interested candidates can apply by accessing the online application to provide contact information, experience, and a statement of interest. Please complete the
online application by Wednesday, May 29, 2013. A limited number of qualified educators from Connecticut will be selected to participate.
CTB/McGraw-Hill will confirm educators to serve as item authors from across all Smarter Balanced Governing States. The distribution of educators will represent a balance of geographic regions, grade levels, years of experience, and other demographic data.
Potential item authors will complete requisite training and certification before being confirmed. Confirmed item authors will be expected to produce high quality items that fully meet all Smarter Balanced Guidelines and Specifications.
2. Mathematics and English Language Arts/Literacy Range Finding Opportunities
Educators who meet the qualifications outlined below are invited to apply to serve as panelists for Range Finding activities beginning in June 2013.
· Currently certified to teach ELA/literacy and/or mathematics in a K-12 public school.
· Currently teaching in a Connecticut public school or are currently employed by a public school or district or state education entity, including higher education.
· Taught ELA/literacy and/or mathematics in Grades 3 through 8 and/or high school within the past three years or have worked in a classroom content support role such as a literacy or mathematics coach, district or state content specialist, etc.
· Previously reviewed the Common Core State Standards for the content area in which they are interested in participating.
· Previous Range Finding experience (preferred but not required).
All educators who are interested in serving on the Range Finding Committee must submit a statement of interest that is at least one paragraph in length that describes (a) the reason(s) for their interest in Range Finding activities for the Smarter Balanced assessment system and (b) their qualifications for doing so.
This spring, Smarter Balanced administered a Pilot Test of the assessment system to a sample of schools across the country including Connecticut. Through this Pilot Test, Smarter Balanced will gather information about the performance of assessment items and the test delivery system.
CTB/McGraw-Hill is recruiting educators to participate in Range Finding Committees to review student responses, recommend anchor papers, and validate rubrics from the Pilot Test. The committees will meet on-site in Sacramento, California (ELA/literacy) and Durham, North Carolina (mathematics) for each Range Finding opportunity. Educators will be expected to attend all four days and will review responses with other educators to discuss scoring expectations and to define the anchors and rationales for scoring. The table below outlines the dates and location of each Range Finding opportunity.
Range Finding Opportunities
Range Finding supports the consistency and validity of scoring for the assessment. Specifically, Range Finding focuses on tasks for mathematics and ELA/literacy and includes
· the review of student responses against item rubrics,
· the validation of rubric effectiveness, and
· the selection of anchor papers used by hand scoring for the
larger population of responses.
Interested candidates can apply by accessing the
online application to provide contact information, experience, and a statement of interest. Please complete the online application by Sunday, May 26, 2013. A limited number of qualified educators from Connecticut will be selected to participate.
CTB/McGraw-Hill will confirm educators to serve on the Range Finding Committees from across all Smarter Balanced Governing States. The distribution of educators will represent a balance of geographic regions, grade levels, years of experience, and other demographic data.
CTB will provide lodging, travel costs, and applicable reimbursements to each confirmed participant which may include substitute reimbursement. Additional travel and contract information will need to be completed for those educators confirmed.