SBAC Chrome App Preparations

Good afternoon,

Based on feedback from our Techie Tester Teachers and extensive testing with students in classrooms, we have learned of two unique problems that are preventing students from accessing the Chrome SBAC App.

1. Student devices have been disenrolled from the PUHSD management system. This is problematic for numerous reasons but the immediate concern is that these devices will not pick up the SBAC App and will be unable to access the practice/field test. It is easy to identify this by having the student click on their profile picture (bottom right hand side of the screen) and then looking for the "This device is managed by puhsd.org" message."

2. Some devices are not receiving the latest Chrome update and the SBAC app freezes. This can be improved by having the student power down their device and then power it on again. After this, have the student open up the Chrome browser and type in chrome://chrome/ and the browser should update.

Thanks to Shane Pinnell in the Technology department for several hours of advanced voodu and technical work we were able to identify students who have a Chromebook checked out to them but those devices haven't logged into our network in the last two weeks. There are a few possibilities here that include the following:

• Device was disenrolled from the PUHSD management system 
• The student hasn't brought their Chromebook to school/signed into our network

What do you need to do? 

Work with your office staff, site technology technician, and your temporary technicians to review the list of student devices and determine if the device is on the management console and that it is updated to the latest version of Chrome. Site Techs will need to document students who have devices that are not in the PUHSD Management system. 

Please ensure that all students have their Chromebooks reviewed prior to February 10th. I suggest working with your History department to identify the dates that they will be administering the LCAP Survey to their students as that will be a double incentive for kids to have their devices on campus those days. The student list was emailed to you on 1-31-14. 

1-30-14 SBAC Test Coordinator Manual, Tutorials, and Communications

SBAC Coordinators,

Smarter Balanced recently posted the Test Administrator Manual (TAM) that gives us some clarification and guidance on the administrative aspects of the Field Test. Please "peruse" this document but know that in the next week or so, the California Department of Education (CDE) and Educational Testing Service (ETS) will release test coordinator and test administrator manuals specific to California. We will learn these new regulations and procedures together in our Coordinator meetings but I wanted to share the online resources with you at: http://sbac.portal.airast.org/field-test/resources/

The Training Test has now been released and it is slightly different than the practice test. The significant differences are outlined on pages 27 to 29 of the TAM. (See screenshots below)

The district will be communicating information to parents regarding the SBAC practice test activity on February 11th with a letter sent to all students in grades 5-11 and an Ed Connect phone dialer. The letter will reach parents on or around 2/7/14 and the dialer will be sent on 2/3/14. The phone dialer will inform students to bring their Chromebooks and their headphones on the day of the practice test. Students are not required to bring headphones, we will provided them if needed.

SBAC Practice Test vs Training Test

SBAC Field Test Resources

#SBAC has released updated Field Test training materials posted on the portal site http://goo.gl/0GcTnc.

CAASPP Calendar Due

The California Assessment of Student Progress and Performance (CAASPP), (formerly CalMapp which was formerly STAR) calendars need to be resubmitted to account for the SBAC maintenance downtime scheduled on 4/10 and 4/11. We also need to have either ELA, math, or a combo of ELA/math teachers proctoring the SBAC Field test. Please re-submit your calendars by next Wednesday, January 29th at 5:00 pm.  I don't need the calendars in any special format but they should be in a professional and presentable format that can be shared with your staff once they are approved by Ed Services and Cabinet. Please review the SBAC Site Coordinator document from December and the information below for the complete list of mandated assessments.

Remember that SBAC is down for maintenance on the following dates:

Thursday, April 10 – Sunday, April 13, 2014

Thursday, May 8 – Sunday, May 11, 2014

California Assessment of Student Progress and Performance (CAASPP)

• EAP ELA in Grade 11
• Writing exam Feb-March (1 class period)
• Full CST, two parts (Part 1- 85 min, Part 2- 100 min)
• EAP Math in Grade 11
• 11th grade students  in Algebra 2, and courses beyond Algebra 2 (Stats, Calculus etc)
• Full CST, two parts (Part 1- 90 min, Part 2- 105 min)
• Grade Level Science
• All students in Grades 5,8, and 10
• CST, CMA, and CAPA
• Two parts (60 min each for a total of 120 min)
• CAPA ELA and Math
• Grades 2-11
• SBAC Field Test (see below)

SBAC Field Testing Window and Assignments

• Test Coordinator Manuals and documentation to be released in late January by SBAC
• Field Test Window is 4/7 to 5/16 for all schools in our district and almost all schools in the county
• 95% of students will take a combo test of both ELA and Math items and a Performance Task in one content area. 5% of students will take an ELA only test or a Math only test (PTs included)
• Both groups (combo and single testers) will test for approximately 4.5 hours and both include a full performance task
• It is anticipated that the test will be broken up into 4 separate sections of 45 to 55 min each but schools can test students in longer or shorter sessions
• Performance Task content area assignments probably won’t be known until students log in. Questions regarding the classroom activity were raised to staff at CDE, possible that PT will be towards middle. More to follow
• In PUHSD, only students in grades 5-8 and grade 11 will test. No 9th or 10th graders were selected for the Scientific sample

SBAC Informational Items 1-20-14

Good afternoon, 

Listed below are some SBAC updates, please thoroughly review and contact me if you have any questions: 

• We are shipping the Global Commands sheet and Headphones to sites, you should receive your shipments on Friday. The headphone order was based on the student feedback (80% of students prefered to use their own). Since you are testing period by period for the practice test, the number of headphones needed are lower. You will need to communicate to students that they should bring their headphones on the day of the ELA test. Headphones will be provided for students that don't have headphones on the day of the test.

• During the practice test, all students are expected to participate. Students who don't have Chromebooks on the day of testing will need to be directed to an alternate testing room (ie lab).

• The name of the statewide assessment program (formerly STAR) is being changed from California Measurement of Progress and Performance (CalMapp) to the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP). This includes SBAC, and the former STAR assessments

• SBAC will be down for maintenance on Thursday April 10- Sunday April 13th and May 8th to May 11th. These dates will affect some of your schedules so I will need you to resubmit your CAASPP calendars if they are affected. Also, please rework your calendars to ensure that either ELA and/or math teachers are proctoring SBAC (the all staff schedule at PMS/CMI is fine for this). An easy fix for this is to have US History teachers proctor the 11th Grade CST in lieu of SBAC

• Please work with your technology coaches regarding the trainings for the districtwide practice test activity. They need to know the dates when they are providing trainings for your teachers. Also, remember that he role of the Tech Coach is coaching teachers and providing professional development. 

• The SBAC Chrome App was recently released. The IT department is working on some network configurations and will hopefully be able to push the app out to student devices soon. 

• I am updating the instructions for the SBAC practice test to include the Chrome App and will have those completed by tomorrow afternoon. 

• The SBAC Site Coordinator Part 2 meeting is on March 4th and is posted on the State Testing Calendar along with the calendar invite send to each coordinator individually.  Your CAASPP test dates will be posted there also. 

• SBAC Google + Hangout scheduled on 1/31 to answer questions and review information for the Districtwide Practice Test Activity.