Yes, Interim Assessments and the CCSS Digital Resource Library Are Coming Soon!
Last spring, Cajon Valley staff and students participated in the first of three components of the Smarter Balanced Assessment System: the Summative Assessment for our 3rd through 8th grade students. This year, we will see the rollout of the remaining two components of the SBAC system: Interim Assessments, designed to support teaching and learning throughout the year and the Digital Library, a clearinghouse of a wide variety of classroom-based formative assessment strategies, resources and practices.

There will be two types of Interim Assessments. These assessments are expected to be available to California teachers this winter.

• Interim Assess Blocks (or IAB’s) are groups of test items that align with specific sets of Common Core Language Arts and Math standards. Teachers will be able to select IAB’s and design additional formative assessments that align with their current instruction.
• Interim Comprehensive Assessments (ICA’s) are designed to mirror the content and nature of the summative assessments administered at the end of the year. Teachers will receive overall scale scores and overall performance level designations.

The Digital Library, which will be available to educators this fall, is an online collection of resources aligned to the Common Core State Standards. It contains Assessment Literacy Modules, professional learning modules focusing on formative assessment tools, practices and processes; the Exemplar Instructional Modules, targeting specific content and practices from the Common Core Standards in Language Arts and Mathematics; and Education Resources with subject- and grade-specific resources that are designed to help K-12 educators apply the formative assessment process during daily instruction.

This is an exceedingly exciting time in education! And Cajon Valley teachers, staff and students are primed and ready to take full advantage of these soon-to-be-released tools as we all work together to prepare students to be college and career ready in this 21st century global society!