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BEND, Ore. (AP) — Oregon's new standardized test is a harder test for students and it's also more difficult for evaluators to score.
The Smarter Balanced test measures how students are performing under the Common Core standards and includes more open-ended questions that can't be scored by a computer.
With that need for humans, the state Department of Education is accepting applications from teachers for a pilot program to train them to score Smarter Balanced tests outside their regular teaching duties.
The department will host a training session in Salem next month. Teachers will score tests from students across the country, not just in Oregon, for $20 an hour, The Bend Bulletin newspaper reported (http://is.gd/MUnkZJ ).
More than 40 states have adopted Common Core, and 14 states are using the Smarter Balanced test.
When the state introduced Smarter Balanced, the question of whether teachers would be involved in the scoring came up often, said Bryan Toller, a math assessment specialist with ODE. It was something other states in the Smarter Balanced consortium asked about, too, he said.
"The idea is Smarter Balanced is the consortium, the whole group of states. In my opinion, it's important to keep the states engaged and involved and keep the teachers engaged and involved," Toller said.
The department wants to recruit 40 teachers for the pilot program.
Last year, Oregon used a company called Data Recognition Corp. to score Smarter Balanced. This year it switched to Measurement Incorporated. In the pilot program, teachers will be supervised by Measurement Incorporated to ensure their scoring is accurate.
On its website, Measurement Incorporated lists openings for temporary workers to score tests, working remotely or at its scoring centers across the country. Job requirements include a bachelor's degree and, for those working remotely, access to a computer with high-speed Internet. The jobs are not limited to teachers.
"I think it's good to get teachers' eyes on this test and the results, have them involved with the test," said Don Stearns, president of the Bend Education Association, the local teachers union. "Sometimes the lens of the teacher might be different than someone whose job is to write and score the test."
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Information from: The Bulletin, http://www.bendbulletin.com
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