SAT-10, SBA tests abolished

Hafa adai Team SOE!

Please take time to read the article forwarded by the Dean and Jackie Che regarding PSS
and its selection of assessment. We must begin research on the ACT Aspire Test. We want to
better prepare our learners for the expectancy of their future careers and becoming
knowledgeable in educational practices will definitely allow us to provide quality service to our
students and our community. Also, this is tied to the Game Changer initiative.
Thank you for your service to the SOE and our learners!
Si,
Char

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Jacqueline Che <jacqueline.che@marianas.edu>
Date: Thu, Mar 6, 2014 at 11:25 AM
Subject: SAT-10, SBA tests abolished in PSS
To: Barbara Merfalen <barbara.merfalen@marianas.edu>, Lisa Hacskaylo
<lisa.hacskaylo@marianas.edu>


http://www.saipantribune.com/newsstory.aspx?cat=1&newsID=154108


SAT-10, SBA tests abolished in public schools

By Moneth Deposa
Reporter
Public school students will no longer take the examinations they used to have at the end
of every school year. The CNMI State Board of Education approvedTuesday to do away with
both the Standards Based Assessment and the Stanford Achievement Test 10th Edition (SAT-10)

At the recommendation of Education Commissioner Dr. Rita A. Sablan, the board
approved the implementation of a new assessment test called ACT Aspire starting school year
2014-2015. This test is designed to assess students readiness in English, science, language arts,
math, and reading and writing.

SAT-10 is a standardized test administered to all students in grades 3 through 12. The
SBA test, meantime, is a battery test that weighs students level of knowledge as aligned with the
systems benchmarks and standards.

According to Sablan, Pearson suspended and took out SAT-10 and developed the ACT
Aspire test to replace it.

The board adopted the policy that endorsed SAT-10 as the CNMI-PSS statewide
assessment in the 1990s. On Tuesday, Sablan asked to have that policy amended to reflect the
implementation of ACT Aspire as the new statewide assessment to be used by the PSS.

In a lengthy discussion during the meeting, Sablan and Jackie Quitugua, associate
commissioner for instruction and curriculum, took turns explaining the need to adopt the new set
of assessment exams.

They described the ACT Aspire as more comprehensive and aligned with the PSS
common core standards.

Sablan disclosed that PSS initially considered three alternatives to replace SAT-10 but
ACT Aspire was chosen after determining that the two others only cover assessments in three
areas: English, language arts, and math.

Despite this shift to ACT Aspire, the SBA test will still be used to test students
knowledge in CNMI history and Chamorro Carolinian Heritage Language Studies, or CCHLS.

The SBA that we are currently usingwill still exist for NMI History and CCHLS since
Act Aspire will not be able to account for learning in these two areas, according to Quitugua.

Sablan and Quitugua disclosed that ACT Aspire is designed to be taken with a computer
but it also offers paper-and-pencil administration. The duration the test is about three to four
hours; the SAT-10 and SBA tests take eight to nine hours.

Since not every public school student has a computer or laptop, the test will also be
administered in its initial year with paper and pencil.

In terms of cost, it was learned that the new test, if taken on the Internet, would costs $27
per subject.

PSS federal programs officer Tim Thornburgh assured the board that PSS has enough
funds to pay for the new test to be administered to all public school students.




Jacqueline Che
Director, Office Of Institutional Effectiveness
Tel.No. 237-6834 jacqueline.che@marianas.edu
Northern Marianas College PO Box 501250 Bldg.Pwww.nmcnet.edu

"I can't change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my
destination." ~ Jimmy Dean