Publications & Resources

Assessment for Deeper Learning in CCSS: Progress Report on the Status of Smarter Balanced and PARCC Assessment Consortia

Jul 2013

Joan L. Herman, Rebecca E. Buschang, Deborah La Torre Matrundola and Jia Wang

This report examines progress made by the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (Smarter Balanced) and the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) through the spring of 2013. This is done by examining efforts concerning the development of their respective assessments, achievement level descriptors, accessibility and accommodations guidelines, and technology guidelines. This report also projects expectations for deeper learning in the consortia’s summative assessments and compares these results to related studies. Results indicate that both consortia made substantial progress in their assessment development over the course of the year. In addition, analyses show a range of depth of knowledge (DOK) expectations across those aligned to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) as well as respected national and international tests. Based on these analyses, this study recommends benchmarks for deeper learning (DOK3 and DOK4) of 33% of total score points in mathematics, 33% in English language arts (ELA) at the elementary level, and 50% in ELA at the secondary level.

Herman, J. L., Buschang, R. E., La Torre Matrundola, D., & Wang, J. (2013). Assessment for deeper learning in CCSS: Progress report on the status of Smarter Balanced and PARCC Assessment Consortia (CRESST Report 851). Los Angeles: University of California, Los Angeles, National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing (CRESST).