[INSERT SCHOOL OR DISTRICT LETTERHEAD]

SAMPLE PARENT NOTIFICATION LETTER:

Smarter Balanced Assessments
[Date]
Dear Parent/Guardian:
Greetings! I am reaching out with some important news about this years statewide assessments for English
language arts and mathematics. As you know, we recently adopted tougher national standards called the
Common Core State Standards (CCSS) to raise the bar for our students in grades K-12. With the Common Core
State Standards, Oregon students are now gaining important critical-thinking, problem solving, and effective
communication skills, and we, as educators, now have a blueprint that tells us what our kids should know by the
end of each grade and what to do if they are not quite where they should be. Teachers across the state have been
implementing these new standards to help our children develop the knowledge and skills they need to be
successful after graduation.
To accurately measure our students learning as well as help our educators pinpoint areas in need of
improvement, we are implementing new tests aligned to our new standards, called Smarter Balanced
assessments. These tests provide an academic check-up and are designed to help teachers and parents know
whether students are on track to be college- and career-ready by the time they graduate.
Beginning this spring, Smarter Balanced assessments will replace existing tests in English and math. They
offer significant improvements over our previous state tests, including writing at every grade, new question
types, and Performance Tasks that ask students to apply their knowledge and skills to real-world problems.
Unlike our previous, multiple-choice-only tests, our new assessments include question formats that allow
students to demonstrate a broader set of skills, like critical thinking, problem-solving, and analytical writing.
We now have tests that allow students to go beyond just regurgitating facts to show what they know and can do.
Please see the attached Parent FAQ for additional information regarding our new state tests.
At [Insert School or District], students in grades 3-8 and 11 will take the Smarter Balanced tests during [Insert
test window]. [Insert additional details regarding the testing experience, score reporting, and next steps at
your school as desired]. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions you may have about state
testing this year.
Sincerely,

___________________

[INSERT SCHOOL OR DISTRICT LETTERHEAD]

Parent FAQ
Why do we need new tests?
Teachers and parents need information about whether students are meeting the expectations set by our new
standards. We adopted Smarter Balanced assessments in English and math because they are aligned to the
Common Core State Standards and designed to measure students progress toward and attainment of the
knowledge and skills required to be successful upon graduation.

How are these new tests different from our previous state tests?
Whereas our previous state tests were primarily multiple-choice, Smarter Balanced tests were designed to go
beyond simple memorization and regurgitation of facts. Our new tests offer more sophisticated questions that
ask students to think critically and go deeper in their reasoning.

How were these tests developed?

We are one of 21 states across the nation to join the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) and
help develop a new assessment system based on the Common Core State Standards. As a member of SBAC, we
have worked closely with experienced educators, researchers, state and local policymakers, and community
groups to design a valid, reliable, and fair assessment system.

What can my child and I expect from these new assessments?

Because the new standards set higher expectations for studentsand the new tests are designed to assess
college- and career-readiness using the standards as a benchmarkexpectations for student achievement are
higher than they used to be. For the first few years, it is likely that fewer students will score at the higher
achievement levels on the assessments. This does not mean that our students are doing worse than previous
years, but rather the scores represent a new baseline that provides a more accurate indicator for educators,
students, and parents. As such, student performance will not look the same as it did on our OAKS tests and
should not be compared to results from previous years. It is important to prepare your child for this change and
keep in mind that your childs test scores on the state assessments are just one measure of their academic
performance at a single point in time. Oregon teachers use a variety of methods to assess your childs progress
throughout the school year.

What if I do not want my child to take these tests?

Oregon law allows school districts to excuse students from a state required program or learning activity,
including state testing, to accommodate a students disability or religious beliefs. Exemption requests are
evaluated and approved at the local level. If you wish to request a test exemption for your child, please contact
[Insert school contact or site of exemption request].

Where can I go for more resources?

Please visit the Oregon Department of Educations website at http://www.ode.state.or.us/home/ to read up on
our adoption of the Common Core State Standards and Smarter Balanced assessments. Please also visit
http://www.corestandards.org/ to learn more about the Common Core State Standards and
http://www.smarterbalanced.org/about/ to learn more about the new Smarter Balanced assessments.