Smarter Balanced Interim Assessments

Interim assessments allow teachers to check student progress throughout the year, giving them actionable information to inform instruction and help students meet college- and career-ready standards.

Interim Assessment Overview

Interim Assessments at Smarter Balanced

• Interim Comprehensive Assessments (ICAs) mimic the administration of the end-of-year summative Smarter assessments in ELA/Literacy and Math.  They include the same item types and test format, including performance tasks.  Their use allows schools to predict how far along students are in achieving the level needed for the summative.

• Interim Assessment Blocks (IABs) are shorter in length than the Interim Comprehensive Assessments.  They include the same item types and test format, including performance tasks, as the Interim Comprehensive Assessments and end-of-year summative Smarter assessments in ELA/Literacy and Math.  They focus on smaller sets of targets and are more flexible to support instruction.

Both the ICAs and the IABs are administered online. Districts and schools have the flexibility to re-administer interim assessments any number of times. These decisions should be made in part of larger assessment context that includes the purpose of the interim assessment, how the interim assessment will be scored and how the data from the interim assessment will be used to improve teaching and learning.  Interim assessment reports can be generated from the Smarter Balanced reporting system.

Interim Assessments Overview

Tools for Teachers Website

Requires Registration for full access for educators. Classlink or ELA/Math DE Portal

Interim Assessment Training

Additional Resources

• Smarter Analytics

  Includes an overview of using Smarter Analytics to guide instruction, webinars, and claim and target crosswalks for grades K-8.

• Building an Interim Assessment System: A Workbook for School

  Guides educators and district personnel through a structured consideration of building or revisiting the district’s interim assessment system. Questions are intended to be answered collaboratively, not by a district administrator in isolation.

• Keys to Successful Interim Assessment Implementation

  Focuses on using data to drive a successful interim assessment plan.

• The Role of Interim Assessments in a Comprehensive Assessment System

  Clarifies how interim assessments fit into the landscape of formative assessment and offers recommendations to districts on the appropriate use of interim assessments as part of a broader assessment system.

• Interim IABs for 2019-20

  Includes more unique items across the IABs, more IABs to measure a greater breadth of content, and revised IABs to measure the content with more specificity. Based on feedback from educators across the country on how to improve the assessments.

• Focused IABs Overview for 2019-20 

For more information on connecting assessments to instruction, contact Curriculum, Instruction and Professional Development at 302-735-4180.

For technical inquiries regarding the Smarter assessment system, contact the Office of Assessment at 302-857-3391.