TEACHERS GET TESTY: Every teacher knows that Common Core will usher in new testing measures. This week, EdWeek reports that the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium plans to run two simultaneous CCSS "modes" of testing (paper-based and computer-based) for three years. The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) will do so for at least one year. But some are less than enthused: Christina Theokas, Education Trust's director of research, worries that if the paper test is less instructionally rich than the computer version, it could result in poorer classroom instruction. No matter the format, schools and districts are making efforts to prepare for these tests.
