CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Thousands of West Virginia teachers have already started using different math and English lessons to prepare students for a new standardized test that will replace the Westest in 2014.
The Next Generation Content Standards and Objectives, which aim for "fewer, focused and deeper" lessons, are designed to better prepare students for college and the workforce and align with the national Common Core standards, said Robert Hull, associate superintendent for the state Department of Education's Division of Teaching and Learning.
West Virginia and 45 other states have adopted the Smarter Balanced Assessment test based on the Common Core standards. Students will take the new test for the first time in the 2014-15 school year.
"Westest is just a West Virginia-based test. Smarter Balanced is being developed by a consortium of 26 states. This should assure parents that West Virginia is implementing an equal curriculum," Hull said. "Now, we will be able to measure how our students compare to other states much easier."
The new standards are beneficial because they focus more on depth of understanding rather than "fitting everything in," Hull said.
"The content is much more rigorous in that students don't just need to know all of the basic skills, but instead need to be able to apply those skills. It's not just, 'Do you know it or not?'" Hull said. "We used to say our curriculum was an inch deep and a mile wide, but it's no longer about that. It's about knowing fewer, more strategic things at a much deeper level. Students actually have to take the information and do something with it -- not just regurgitate it back."
Another major difference between the Westest and Smarter Balanced is that the new test is taken on a computer and allows for a more specific assessment of each student's performance, Hull said.
"Right now, everyone has a pencil and paper and they're asked the same question. The new test is adaptive, which means students will be taken to different levels when they answer questions. If they get the answer right, they will receive a more advanced question. It's more individualized," he said.
The computerized assessments are able to produce results more quickly and also are more capable of measuring growth over time, but there's a catch, Hull said.
"Every classroom in every school has to have a computer capable of producing the test. That's a huge hurdle," he said. "But, West Virginia has invested in technology heavily over the past several years, and we just have to make sure we're ready. It's a hurdle, but I guarantee we'll get there."