High school rolls out new standardized state test

Online exam can adjust difficulty as it goes|

No bubbling in. No #2 pencils. No guessing games. Standardized tests have caught up to the digital age, as California public school students will take a new kind of standardized test this spring – and it’s all online.

The Smarter Balanced assessment is administered online, testing students’ critical-thinking skills based on the “common core” standards, which the state adopted in 2009. It is replacing the older Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) test, which was entirely multiple-choice.

Smarter Balanced uses adaptive technology, meaning the test adjusts difficulty after each question, depending on whether the previous questions were answered correctly.

Sonoma Valley Unified School District adopted the common core standards in 2011. Last year, SVHS juniors took a practice Smarter Balanced assessment to help ready the test for its official unveiling this 2014-15 school year. The Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium did not publish the results of last year’s soft launch.

Some SVHS students say they took last year’s practice round with a grain of salt.

“No one was taking it seriously, really, because it wasn’t going to benefit us in any way,” said Sonoma Valley High School senior Jake Cross, who, along with the rest of the SVHS class of 2015, took the practice assessment last year.

Senior Jacob Little added, “We took it on a computer, which was weird. I prefer a paper test.”

This year’s Sonoma Valley High School juniors will be taking the test from April 20 to 24. Student expectations have, so far, been mixed.

Junior Alsy Howard predicts the test this year will be “a lot harder.”

“We’re doing practice for it right now in English (class),” said Howard. “They’ve been getting us ready for it all year.”

Meanwhile, another junior, Gaby Lucas said she doesn’t know much about the test and has not talked about it in class at all.

Cian Lacy, also a junior, is more optimistic.

“I think I’ve been prepared fairly well,” Lacy said. “I’ve been taking a bunch of (Advanced Placement) and honors classes, so I think I’ll do fairly well.”

However, adds Lacy: “They don’t talk about it too much (in class).”

The new test is a change in the way the state is assessing public-school standards, but a deeper change comes from the “common core” standards and the learning expectations.

“It’s really different (from the STAR test),” said SVHS librarian Janet Hansen, who plays an important role in organizing the test. “On the superficial level, it’s all given on a computer. On a deeper level, it’s not just multiple choice; it requires a lot more critical thinking.”

The test will assess the district’s “Common Core” roll out and will analyze how well the district has been teaching the curriculum.

Sonoma Valley High School hired literacy coordinator Nancy Case-Rico – a professor at Sonoma State University’s School of Education – to help the school improve its Common Core teaching.

She said she’s impressed with the work ethic at the high school. “I don’t know of another district that’s putting as much money into teachers.”

Sonoma Valley High uses a system of “lead” teachers charged with creating programs and workshops for other teachers at the school.

“We have lead teachers who hold workshops and teach other teachers. I think we’re doing very well,” said lead teacher Alison Manchester.

Some teachers are excited about the changes Common Core standards will bring.

“Students will now be able to apply their knowledge,” said lead teacher Andy Gibson. “It’s more real world.”

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