Vermont gives up SBAC for new standardized test: What parents and students can expect.
Vermont students will be taking a different standardized test this spring.
Students will no longer take the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) and the Vermont Science Assessment (VTSA) tests that they have since 2015.
The new test, Cognia, encompasses the subjects of English language arts, math and science and will first be administered in the spring of 2023.
The Agency of Education chose Cognia after the former testing provider's contract was up, noting Cognia's focus on equity.
“Cognia’s approach to diversity, equity and inclusion in the development and implementation of assessments aligns with Vermont’s values, and the accessibility and user experience of their testing resources will make working with the assessments easier for students, families and educators,” said Dan French, Vermont's secretary of education.
The details of Cognia tests and equity
Standardized assessments have a history of marginalizing certain groups, said Ted Fisher, a spokesperson for the agency. The agency chose Cognia in part for its commitment to equity-centered testing and because the federal Every Student Succeeds Act requires states measure equity gaps in the education system.
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"By providing an assessment that is easily accessible to all students, and measures the same things in the same ways for everyone, we provide a fair and consistent evaluation of these gaps in a way that includes everyone fairly," Fisher said.
In addition to Cognia centering equity in the way it develops and administers the test, Fisher said it provides robust accommodations and accessibility features, provides translation of score reports at no additional cost to the state and prioritizes diversity, equity and inclusion in the company's internal operations and business practices.
Who else is using Cognia?
Vermont contracted with Cognia's predecessor, known then as Measured Progress, when it administered the New England Common Assessment Program (NECAP) to students from 2004 to 2015.
The states of Maryland, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Rhode Island currently use Cognia, as well as a couple other consortiums as an alternate assessment.
How Cognia scores will be possible to compare to past tests
Vermont's director of assessment, Amanda Gorham, said Cognia is working to develop a methodology for meaningfully comparing scores to SBAC to other assessments Vermont has administered in the past.
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Cognia will provide not only the annual summative test that students take near the end of the year to show the progress they've made, but also formative tests that measure a student's current ability before completing an academic unit. The features are expected to include an enhanced user interface for setup and for viewing the results.
More about Cognia can be found at https://www.cognia.org/services/assessment/.
Contact reporter April Barton at abarton@freepressmedia.com or 802-660-1854. Follow her on Twitter @aprildbarton.
This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: Vermont will use a new standardized test starting in 2023
