Smarter Balanced Pilot Test

February 2013

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Purpose of the Scientific Pilot

• Provide an opportunity for students to interact with new, innovative test items that will be part of future Smarter Balanced assessments.

• Gather data about the implementation of the Online Testing System, the functioning of the items and their technical quality, and survey administration procedures.

• Identify and inform areas of improvement prior to the 2014 Field Test and 2015 operational administrations.

 

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Smarter Balanced Key Milestones

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Design of the Scientific Pilot

• Pilot Window and Participation – Pilot testing will take place between February 20 and

May 24, 2013.– Schools will administer the Pilot during a specified two-week period.

– The Pilot will include a sample of approximately 1 million students in about 6,000 schools in the Smarter Balanced governing states. The sample represents approximately 10% of the schools in each state.

– School selection for the scientific sample was based on demographic sampling parameters (such as district/school size, race, gender, urban/rural population) to ensure that the Pilot data collected are representative of the Consortium states.

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Design of the Scientific Pilot

• Pilot Window and Participation – Sample schools will be contacted by recruitment staff between

December and February. Schools will be notified of their test window and the grades, content areas, and item types they have been assigned to administer. Additional schools may be contacted if more participants are needed to fulfill the sampling requirements.

– Schools not selected as part of the scientific sample may volunteer by March 27 to participate in another format of the Pilot by completing an online survey at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/SmarterBalancedPilot. Schools that were scientifically selected may also fill out this registration and volunteer to test additional grades. Volunteers will have the opportunity to test using a separate form of items that will be available beginning of April.

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Design of the Scientific Pilot

• Pilot Assessment Design:– Computer-administered tests in English Language Arts

(Reading and Writing) and Mathematics in grades 3–11.– Items include selected-response items, constructed-

response items, technology-enhanced items, and performance tasks.

– Selected grades and content areas may take one of the three following assessment types:

1. Computer-administered test items2. Computer-administered test items plus one

performance task3. Computer-administered test items plus one

performance task with a classroom activity

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Design of the Scientific Pilot

• Pilot Assessment Design:– Samples of these items and content specifications may be viewed at

http://www.smarterbalanced.org/.– Pilot Test items are representative of the item types intended for use

on Smarter Balanced assessments; however, the Pilot Test forms will not be administered adaptively, thus will not be a full representation of the operational test forms slated for use in 2014–2015.

• The Pilot Test is not timed, but we estimate that most students will take approximately two to three hours to complete the test. Some schools will be assigned a test that includes a classroom-based performance task. This will add approximately one half hour to the estimated testing time. The test may be administered over multiple sessions and multiple days.

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Preparing for the Pilot

• Participate in training opportunities:• Take the training test accessible through the

Smarter Balanced Portal (http://sbac.portal.airast.org/).

• Review the five self-paced online training modules posted on the Smarter Balanced Portal.

• Review the Test Administration Manual, Test Coordinator Manual, TIDE and Test Administrator User Guides, FAQs, and other relevant Pilot materials in the Resources and Documentation tab on the Smarter Balanced Portal.

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Sample Test Layout

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Online Resources

• Pilot Test Smarter Balanced web page – http://www.smarterbalanced.org/pilot-test/– Overview– Pilot Test participation details– Frequently asked questions– Pilot Test flyer for schools

• Secure Scientific Sample Portal– http://sbac.portal.airast.org/– Secure browser– TIDE– Training Test