Saturday, May 16, 2015

SBAC Positive and Negative How did you feel? by Senara

Sixth and Seventh graders took SBAC (Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium) from May 8-13. The other programs in Natomas Charter also took SBAC recently. I decided to ask three students what they felt about SBAC. I made them promise that they had to tell the complete truth when they wrote down their answers. There was good and bad results in the interviews. Here are some negative examples:
SBAC was taken on Chromebooks. Note: Not real test shown.


Samantha (LE 6th): “I felt like SBAC was very long. My brain felt fried and it was overwhelming. I was very confident at first but then it got annoying. I know that some people did not even finish after Friday.”

Natasha(LE 6th): “ SBAC was extended and I felt like I was having a heart attack. During the test, I felt like punching my chromebook. After SBAC I felt dizzy because I could not handle all that pressure! In a way, I felt like SBAC was the longest thing I ever did in the 6th grade.”

Seneka (Star 4th) : “ SBAC was long because in language arts we had to write an essay. When I finished typing my fingers felt like they were about to fall off! In the end, I felt like my brain was about to POP!”

Even though this was long and stressful these same people said some positive things of SBAC as well. These are some positive examples of SBAC:

Samantha (LE 6th): “ I really love the use of technology. This was way better than writing it all down.”

Natasha (LE 6th): “ This had much less problems than Star Testing! I love that.”

Seneka (Star 4th): “The math was short and easier. You get to relax after it since all the pressure is off your shoulders.”
As you can now understand the positive and negative thoughts of different people who took SBAC. What were your thoughts on SBAC, and how did you feel about it? Why?

11 comments:

  1. I think it was great that you interviewed many people for their opinion on SBAC. I personally think SBAC was better than STAR. It had less problems and brought in more technology. Even though it has less problems, each problem IN SBAC had more depth and Critical Thinking! Great Blog! ~(^ - ^)~

    ReplyDelete
  2. I think the SBAC, was a great method for the application of brain development (testing). The SBAC and STAR were used to measure the academic level of a student and how they rank amongst the standards. Also it is used to give the teacher and school an idea of how they are doing educating their kids. Like Lauren had said, the SBAC had brought in a Critical Thinking environment that adheres to summative tests regarding English and Math. In each of those subjects they have a summative and performance task exam which measures the academic level in many areas. Personally, I felt the SBAC went very well, and I also did sometimes feel a little stressed, but I thought I did pretty well. One thing that I felt went good for me was that I prepared. I did the entire practice tests 1-2 times each and I also did extra practice along with the homework given to prepare me. Senara, has made an excellent blog, which not only given me an insight on the exam, but had also had gave me what other students from 4th-6th grade had experienced.

    ReplyDelete
  3. SBAC was a little bit easier than STAR only because I like to improve on my typing skills. I also think that writing for a long time can cramp up your fingers a lot quicker than typing. The down side for me on this test was that it didn't let me go back to the questions. Overall great job on the blog Senara

    ReplyDelete
  4. The SBAC testing this year (2015) was really challenging. Like in the comments, the use of technology in testing was great. Technology fir tests is a good replacement. I felt proud, after the test ended, as I was happy it was done. I too felt stressed, because I was sitting in a desk looking at the computer's screen for hours. This is probably how work for some adults is, for example if they work on the computer all day. I felt tat SBAC was more challenging than star, probably because star was pretty much bubbling in. I think that for this type of test, SBAC would be the best and easiest for everyone, because it can be graded easily by a machine, or whatever it is being graded by. It is probably that SBAC is overall at a higher academic level than star. I think this, because, in the blog it said that a fourth grader had to write an essay. I actually don't remember writing an essay during my fourth grade year, which was during the star test. Practice of the test would have also benifited you very much. Practice would probably have less stress of nerves, and luckily we had the opportunity to practice at home, and even at school. We learned in the process of the test too. Hopefully, everyone did their best, and good. See you all in school!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. The SBAC testing i think it better than the Star testing becuase you will get very tired of writing very fast but not typing.I also agree with some of you that after the test you get very tired so on the ELA test i didn't worte that much on the essay.I think the SBAC can be a great replacement for Star testing,and also GOOD JOB!

    ReplyDelete
  6. The SBAC Testing was a little stressful, but it was pretty fun and I think I did very good on the testing. I was happy when it was over because I got tired in the end. Also very good topic choice Senara!

    ReplyDelete
  7. As well I think the easy part in the testing was that you didn't have a really tired hand because you were typing not writing like the STAR testing!! So it was actually kind of fun using the computers because it also made your typing skills better.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Sai Srikrishna GujjeMay 27, 2015 at 9:21 PM

    In my opinion, STAR was better than SBAC. Because STAR tells you how you are doing in sixth grade. But SBAC makes you go to whatever your good at.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I think the SBAC testing wasn't hard, but it was time consuming. Even though it was time consuming, we made it. :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. I agree with some of the students interviewed, it was not easy and it was very long. Although, it does feel great to know that it's all done. Great post Senara.

    ReplyDelete