Testing reduced for high school juniors
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News from Montana Superintendent of Public Instruction
HELENA – Public high school juniors will no longer be required to take the annual Smarter Balanced assessment, and instead will take the ACT, according to Montana Superintendent of Public Instruction Denise Juneau.
“Montana is one of 13 states that provides the ACT to all juniors for free. It doesn’t make sense to ask juniors to take the ACT and the Smarter Balanced assessment,” Juneau said. “The change will cut testing time for public high school students by two-thirds, and allow them to focus on preparing for college and career.”
Testing time will also be cut for all other grades because Montana will no longer participate in the Smarter Balanced classroom activity.
Montana students in grades three through eight and 11 took the Smarter Balanced assessment last spring, replacing the outdated Criterion Reference Test. The new test is aligned to the state’s more-rigorous math and English/language arts standards.
Because the Smarter Balanced test is aligned to Montana’s new math and English/language arts standards, results are not comparable to previous statewide assessments.
Juneau is confident next year’s Smarter Balanced assessment will be a seamless process because Montana’s vendor, Measured Progress, plans to contract with the American Institutes for Research to deliver the test on its proprietary platform at no extra cost. Because of the technical challenges schools faced in 2014/2015, the Montana Office of Public Instruction has reached an agreement with the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium saving Montana half ($375,596) of its annual membership fees. Plus, the agency will continue to withhold 10 percent of Measured Progress’ contract payment until the vendor meets its 2014/2015 contract requirements.
The Office of Public Instruction will save an additional $183,000 in 2015/2016 by not offering an interim Smarter Balanced assessment, and by using the ACT to test public school juniors. Thanks to a partnership with GEAR UP, the Office of Public Instruction is able to provide the ACT to all public high school juniors at no cost.
