Cumberland Times-News

Local News

February 19, 2013

W.Va. educators prepare for new standardized test

Smarter Balanced Assessment based on Common Core standards

Associated Press

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — Students across West Virginia are being prepared for a new standardized test that will replace the state’s WESTEST.

Students will begin taking the Smarter Balanced Assessment test during the 2014-2015 school year. The test, adopted by West Virginia and 45 other states, is based on the national Common Core standards.

“WESTEST is just a West Virginia-based test. Smarter Balanced is being developed by a consortium of 26 states. This should assure parents that West Virginia is implementing an equal curriculum,” said Robert Hull, associate superintendent for the state Department of Education’s Division of Teaching and Learning. “Now, we will be able to measure how our students compare to other states much easier.”

Kindergarten and first-grade classes already are using the Next Generation Content Standards and Objectives for math and reading/language arts. The standards are being implemented in second-grade classes, and all grades will use them by the fall of 2014.

Standards for other subjects are still being developed. In the interim, the WESTEST will be used for science and social studies, Hull told the Charleston Gazette.

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