Assessment
State Testing
Washington students take state and federal tests regularly to assess their learning growth as well as the progress of the educational system as a whole. Statewide testing is important because it helps ensure all public school students receive a quality education, no matter where they go to school, because they are measured to equal standards.
State test results are one piece of information about how a student is doing in school. They should be combined with other information, such as report card grades, classwork and teacher observations to give families a more complete picture of their child’s academic performance. Together with report cards and other information, test results help families to know if a student is on track to succeed in higher grades as well as for college and career.
State testing is required by state law (RCW 28A.230.095) and federal law (Elementary and Secondary Education Act). The Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) oversees public schools in Washington and defines the state testing guidelines that Edmonds School District must follow.
For more information, please review OSPI's State Testing FAQ and the tabs below.
The Various State Assessments
The SBA is an assessment system used by Washington and other states belonging to the Smarter Balanced Consortium. The assessments are administered at the end of the school year to determine students' progress toward college and career readiness. The content is based on the Washington K-12 Learning Standards in ELA and Math for the grade level.
All students in grades 3-8, 10 are required to be assessed in English Language Arts (ELA) and Mathematics annually. In grade 10, the SBA is one path toward meeting the Graduation Pathway graduation requirement.
Students complete SBA tests online during the school day and they are not timed. There are two main components to the SBA:
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Computer Adaptive Test: The CAT adjusts to a student’s ability by basing the difficulty of future questions on previous answers. An adaptive test assesses a student's knowledge and academic skills more accurately than a traditional fixed-form test. The format is multiple choice.
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Performance Task: The PT challenges students to apply their knowledge and skills to a more complex, real-world context. The task is a scenario or series of questions that require students to engage with various materials and produce a response.
An alternate assessment for the SBA is available to Special Education students with significant cognitive challenges whose IEP team has determined that the alternate assessments are appropriate and have designated the use of the alternate assessments on the student's IEP. Please see OSPI's Washington Access to Instruction and Measurement (WA-AIM) page for more details.
Families receive official score reports in the early fall of the following school year. In Granite Falls School District, SBA scores are loaded into Skyward Family Access and the score reports are provided in hard copy at conferences and through the mail.
Additional SBA resources:
Understanding the Smarter Balanced Summative Assessment video (Spanish)
Understanding the Smarter Balanced Summative Assessment video (English)