Chad M. Barrett

Yesterday I read about half of the SMARTER Balanced Assessment Consortium's draft content specifications for mathematics. My initial reaction is that the consortium has made a thoughtful attempt to revolutionize mathematics education in the United States. The consortium, it seems to me, plans to assess mathematics in very different ways based on a very different approach to the domain. They are moving to center stage the habits of mind, or the ways of thinking, that students will need in order to successfully use mathematics in college or the workplace. A colleague told me that there is a fundamental shift taking place in mathematics education - away from focusing on how mathematics is taught and toward how mathematics is learned. After reading the first half of this document I agree with her.

In its draft content specifications the consortium identified four major claims that will map assessment targets to the Common Core State Standards. These claims are provided below.

• Claim #1 - Students can explain and apply mathematical concepts and carry out mathematical procedures with precision and fluency.
• Claim #2 - Students can frame and solve a range of complex problems in pure and applied mathematics.
• Claim #3 - Students can clearly and precisely construct viable arguments to support their own reasoning and to critique the reasoning of others.
• Claim #4 - Students can analyze complex, real-world scenarios and can use mathematical models to interpret and solve problems.

These claims, in my opinion, define what important habits of mind students will need in college and the workplace. These claims are supported by the Common Core State Standards and how that document is organized. However, the consortium took a very interesting additional step. They are proposing that these claims become the reporting categories for the assessments that they are developing. The table below, taken from the draft specifications document, shows how this would look.

I find this recommendation to be both revolutionary and intriguing. This is revolutionary because I am not aware of a state summative assessment that organizes reporting categories in any way other than the content domains. I have grown accustomed to seeing reporting categories such as: number and operation, algebra and functions, geometry, and statistics and probability. I find the recommendation intriguing because, as an assessment content developer, I find myself challenged to meet the expectations of this design. I think I will enjoy whatever role I will play in trying to make this work.

What do you think?

Reference

Burkhardt, H., & Schoenfeld, A. (2011). Content specifications with content mapping for the summative assessment of the common core state standards for mathematics. Review Draft, SMARTER Balanced Assessment Consortium, Retrieved from http://www.k12.wa.us/SMARTER/ContentSpecs/MathContentSpecifications.pdf

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