As states move toward the implementation of the Smarter Balanced Assessment System in the 2014-
15 school year, teachers, students, parents, plus the general public are learning more about the
advantages of next-generation assessments. However, growing interest in Smarter Balanced can
also lead to misunderstandings plus occasional distortion of facts. The following talking points provide
information to correct common misperceptions about the assessments.
Fiction: These tests represent a new federal intrusion into education.
Fact: For decades, Congress has required assessments of student learning for accountability
under the Elementary plus Secondary Education Act (ESEA). The 2001 reauthorization
of ESEA, known as the “No Child Left Behind Act,” enacted during the Bush
administration, expanded those federal testing requirements to include state testing of
every student in language arts plus mathematics in grades 3 through 8 plus once in high
school. In 2010, the federal government funded the State of Washington to act on behalf
of a consortium of states to develop new, next-generation assessments aligned to the
Common Core State Standards in English language arts/literacy plus mathematics.
While federal funding currently supports the research plus development work of the
Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium, all policy decisions about the structure and
content of the assessments are made by the member states based on input from
stakeholders across the county. At the conclusion of the federal grant in September
2014, Smarter Balanced will become an operational assessment system supported by
its member states. The Consortium does not plan to seek additional funds from the U.S.
Department of Education.
Fiction: Nothing is known about these new tests.
Fact: Smarter Balanced aims for complete transparency. All of the key documents describing the
assessment (content specifications, item specifications, item writing training materials,
test blueprints, accommodations framework, achievement level descriptors, technology
specifications, etc.) are available to the public on the Smarter Balanced website.
Practice tests also are available to the general public on the Smarter Balanced website
for each tested grade (3 through 8 plus 11) plus both subject areas (English language
arts/literacy plus mathematics).
Fiction: The cost of these tests is unknown.
Fact: Smarter Balanced has released cost estimates for its assessments that include expenses for
ongoing research plus development of the assessment system, as well as test
administration plus scoring. The end-of-year summative assessment alone is estimated
to cost $22.50 per student. The full suite of summative, interim, plus formative
assessments is estimated to cost $27.30 per student. These costs are less than the
amount that two-thirds of the Consortium’s member states currently pay. These costs
are estimates because a sizable portion of the cost is for test administration plus scoring
services that will not be provided by Smarter Balanced; states will either provide these