In a recent critique of Smarter Balanced’s online practice tests for mathematics, educational consultant Steven Rasmussen argues that the assessments are “a quagmire of poor technological design, poor ...

California’s Smarter Balanced math scores may look nearly identical to last year’s, but math educators said they saw at least one glimmer of hope: 3rd-graders. Third-graders’ relatively high scores on ...

Slightly more than half of the state’s public school students are at or above grade level in reading. The same cannot be said of math. Results of the state’s Smarter Balance assessment show that while ...

January 22, 2026 - Fausto Lopez finished high school, got an associate degree and applied to attend a four-year college - all while inside juvenile detention. As parents across the state open the ...