Northwest Regional Comprehensive Center

Education Northwest, in collaboration with NWRCC, hosted the first in a series of webinars on the Common Core State Standards.

Webinar Description

The 31-state SMARTER Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) was awarded a four-year $160 million Race to the Top assessment grant by the U.S. Department of Education to develop a student assessment system aligned to a common core of academic standards. In this webinar, participants had an opportunity to hear from Dr. Joe Willhoft, Assistant Superintendent of Assessment and Student Information for Washington State and one of the leaders in the SBAC. The purpose of the webinar was to provide an opportunity for participants to:

• Learn what the SMARTER Balanced Assessment Consortium is and will do;
• Recognize the benefits of common assessments and;
• Identify how the development of common assessments may impact different stakeholders, such as students, parents, teachers, and administrators.

Participants had an opportunity to pose questions on the registration form and throughout the webinar. This webinar was designed for state education agency and local education agency staff from AK, ID, MT, OR, WA, WY.

Additional information on Common Core State Standards and what's happening in the region

View other webinars in this series:
Helping Students Meet the Reading Common Core State Standards in History/Social Studies and the Sciences
A Closer Look at the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics

Recording of Webinar

Assessing the Common Core State Standards:
An Introduction to the SMARTER Balanced Assessment Consortium
October 20, 2010
1 hr. 24 min.

Dr. Willhoft's Presentation (799 KB)