WestEd’s Building Educator Assessment Literacy (BEAL) Workshops provide opportunities for participants to learn about Smarter Balanced assessments and how they align with the college and career-ready standards. Participate in a BEAL Workshop and you will learn to effectively use Smarter Balanced performance tasks during classroom instruction and improve student learning outcomes.
Customized Support
WestEd and our partner, the Stanford Center for Assessment, Learning, and Equity (SCALE), have designed customized, face-to-face BEAL workshops.
We offer BEAL professional learning in multiple workshop formats to suit your needs:
- Two-Day Workshop on-site
- Two-and-a-Half-Day Workshop on-site, for those who will be training other educators
- Customized Workshop to meet the needs of a state or district
- Customized Workshop, addressing the standards and assessments in non–Smarter Balanced member states
Each BEAL workshop features authentic, released performance tasks and rubrics from the Smarter Balanced assessments. Participants work individually and in small groups throughout the training to:
- Analyze the standards on which the performance tasks are based
- Evaluate how the scoring rubrics measure performance against those standards
- Score sample student responses
- Discuss the implications for classroom instruction, based on different levels of performance
Educators who participate in an additional training-of-trainers event will receive full presenter materials and support as they prepare to deliver the training to educators in their own districts and schools.
Trusted Experience
Clients participating in BEAL Workshops report increased confidence in the use of results from performance assessments and in their educators’ ability to provide effective standards-based instruction.
What Our Clients Are Saying
I would say that in my 25 years of teaching, participating in BEAL was one of the more meaningful experiences I’ve had. I did not feel like any of my time was wasted…It was probably one of the most thorough trainings I’ve been to in my career. Rena Wagner, Early Learning Specialist
Silver Falls School District, Oregon
Learn More
To learn more, contact BEAL@WestEd.org or 415.615.3220.