News Brief

PARCC and Smarter Balanced Sample Items and Tasks Available Online

PARCC and Smarter Balanced have both announced that they have sample assessment items and tasks available online, providing educators, parents, and students an initial look at the types of items that will appear on next-generation assessments. Both consortia emphasize that the sample items are intended to help   teachers, administrators, and policymakers implement the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and prepare for next-generation assessments. The sample items and tasks help to shine a light on important elements of the CCSS and serve as a resource as educators are planning the shifts in instruction that will be required to help students meet the demands of the new assessments. The sample items are not intended to be used as practice tests and do not provide a comprehensive picture of what the new assessments will look like. Both consortia will continue to release items and tasks over time to represent the full range of assessment items and tasks that will eventually be included on the assessments. CCSSO is planning a webinar to highlight sample items and tasks from both consortia, with teachers discussing how they will use them to inform their instruction and will provide more information about this in the coming weeks. For more information and to view the sample items and prototypes, please visit the websites for PARCC and Smarter Balanced.