Tools for Teachers: Smarter Balanced

Tools for Teachers from the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium is an easy-to-use website that features lessons and strategies to support instruction, save teachers time in developing quality lessons, and help prepare students for college or career success. The California Department of Education funds access to this resource for all local educational agencies with no cost to the teachers themselves.

The Tools for Teachers website focuses on the formative assessment process, which helps teachers identify where students are in their learning, where they are heading, and how they will reach their learning goals. All of the website’s resources include recommended teaching strategies that support diverse learners and can be modified by teachers to meet instructional needs during in-person or distance learning.

This website was created in collaboration with hundreds of educators. It includes lessons, classroom activities, teaching strategies, professional learning, and links to additional Smarter Balanced resources. In addition, the website resources are designed in such a way that they can be used in conjunction with the Smarter Balanced Interim Assessment Blocks, which are optional assessments of students’ progress toward meeting the English language arts/literacy and mathematics content standards.

Tools for Teachers: Smarter Balanced