California school district makes technological progress

Beginning in the 2014-2015 academic year, students in California will be required to take the Smarter Balanced assessments, which are online tests aligned with the Common Core State Standards, according to the California Department of Education. As these adaptive assessments will be delivered through computers, and not paper, school districts need to make sure they are ready to start testing.

Los Banos Unified School District is among the California school systems in the process of preparing for the Smarter Balanced assessments, the Merced Sun-Star reported. In fact, the School District is making good progress with its technology upgrades.

"We started in June and at this point we're done or currently under way with the projects," Steve Tietjen, Los Banos' superintendent, told the news source.

At the School District's Lorena Falasco Elementary School and R.M. Miano Elementary School, improvements to their infrastructure were made possible through a $273,000 grant. The upgrades will allow students enrolled at these institutions to take the Smarter Balanced assessments simultaneously, and not have to worry about their computers crashing or a slow Internet connection in the process.