Pros And Cons Of Smarter Balanced Assessment

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Smarter Balanced Assessment: Pro or Con? Smarter Balanced Assessment, who is it truly assessing, the teachers or the students? Smarter Balanced testing contributes to the teacher’s performance, but is it beneficial or does it have unintended consequences? Students are ultimately grading the teachers by taking these tests and they are not even aware of it. The disadvantages may outweigh the benefits for this topic, but teachers must look past the disadvantages and do what they were meant to do, teach. The Smarter Balanced Assessment tool was put in place to see the progress of the school and the impact the teachers were having on the students. One of the main benefits is the fact that there is clear data to determine the impact the teacher is having on the student. If the teacher is doing a good job at explaining and teaching the material then the student’s scores should reflect it. The data gained from the test also helps the teachers realize what subject may be a problem area for his or her students. This is a benefit that would significantly help the students. Without it students may be struggling with a topic and the teachers are not even aware. By looking at the scores and talking with the previous teachers they can determine what might be the best way to teach the students. This leads to the next benefit, teachers can begin a new year knowing how much each student already knows. Knowing where each student lies is beneficial because the teacher is then able to focus

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