Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium

The Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) is a group that makes tests to see how well students are learning. These tests match the Common Core State Standards, which are rules about what students should know. The tests are taken online and can change to be easier or harder depending on how a student answers questions. They use special computer programs to score essays automatically, which is automated essay scoring.

SBAC began in 2010 to help many states give the same kinds of tests. A company called Amplify helps them by giving the technology needed for these online tests. SBAC worked with Amplify to make tools that help teachers see how well their students are doing and to create a library of learning materials for teachers. This partnership helped make sure the tests could give useful information to teachers and schools. Another big group doing similar work is the Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers.

Member states

The Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium has many states that work together to make tests. Some of these states are California, Michigan, Connecticut, Delaware, and Hawaii.

Iowa, North Carolina, and Wyoming are also part of the group, but they can choose to work with this group or another group, depending on what they need.

Assessment

In the spring of 2015, SBAC began giving new tests to students. These tests are for students in grades 3 to 8 and grade 10 (grade 11 in California). The tests cover Math and English Language Arts. Each test has two parts: a Performance Task and a Computer-Adaptive Test.