Smarter Balanced isn’t an example of poor grammar or a tasteless brand of margarine: it’s the name of the Assessment Consortium that tests students of all grade levels on the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). And as students and teachers alike are now judged based on their test scores, being unprepared just isn’t an option.
Shmoop (https://www.shmoop.com), a digital publisher known for its award winning test prep and certified online courses, recently released guides to the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) for the 6th grade and 7th grade levels. With these new releases and Shmoop’s existing guides for 8th grade and 11th grade, all middle schoolers and high schoolers taking the SBAC are now covered by Shmoop.
Shmoop’s prep will help students navigate SBAC assessment targets and tackle the technology-enhanced items, including drag and drop, hot text, graphic response, and equation response. The guides also include CCSS- and SBAC-aligned diagnostic assessments, practice items, and performance tasks. That means that students can prepare for the exam with assessments that mimic the actual test, while teachers can use Shmoop’s sample performance tasks as a classroom activity. Blended learning at its best.<
But what’s test prep without proven results? In 2015, Juniors at Palm Desert High School in California used Shmoop’s SBAC Grade 11 test prep, and their scores speak for themselves: 80% of PDHS juniors met or exceeded ELA expectations, compared to 56% statewide; and 41% of PDHS juniors met or exceeded math expectations, compared to 29% statewide according to the California Department of Education. That’s a 24% and 12% edge on the state average for ELA and math, respectively, after implementing Shmoop. “Everyone was so flustered about the new test,” said Assistant principal Charles Mazet, “and Shmoop allowed our students to get comfortable with the assessment. It mirrors the actual test so students knew what they were getting into and could enjoy the studying process.”
Individuals and small groups can subscribe to Shmoop for access to SBAC prep and much more, and discounts are available for schools and districts; contact sales(at)shmoop(dot)com for more information.
About Shmoop
Shmoop offers hundreds of thousands of pages of original content. Their Online Courses, Test Prep, Teaching Guides, Learning Guides, and interactive Study Tools are written by teachers and experts and balance a teen-friendly, approachable style with academically rigorous concepts. Shmoop sees 16 million unique visitors a month across desktop and mobile. The company has won numerous awards from EdTech Digest, Tech & Learning, and the Association of Educational Publishers. Launched in 2008, Shmoop makes the magic happen from a labradoodle-patrolled office in Mountain View,
