Assessment Spotlight - April 10, 2020

Focusing on the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) System and English Language Proficiency Assessments of California (ELPAC)—and including, when timely, updates on California's other statewide assessments.

Smarter Balanced Interim Assessments for Distance Learning

With the widespread closure of schools in California and the suspension of CAASPP testing due to COVID-19, many local educational agencies (LEAs) are serving their students through distance learning. To aid teachers and other LEA staff during this challenging time, the California Department of Education (CDE) will make available, as an optional resource, the Smarter Balanced Interim Assessments for use in distance learning. More information, including instructions for accessing the interim assessments for distance learning, will be sent to LEA test coordinators next week.

Webinar for Assessment, Accountability, and Dashboard Coordinators

The CDE had planned to present an April webinar for new LEA CAASPP and ELPAC coordinators to learn how to prepare to receive assessment scores. However, given the closure of schools across the state and the suspension of statewide testing for 2019‒2020, the CDE will repurpose this webinar. On April 21, at 1:30 p.m., we invite all LEA CAASPP and ELPAC coordinators to join us for a CDE update.

This webinar is designed for assessment, accountability, and Dashboard coordinators to provide them with updates on Governor Newsom's executive orders and the recently approved federal waiver under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Staff from three CDE divisions—Assessment Development and Administration; Analysis, Measurement, and Accountability Reporting; and Improvement and Accountability—will discuss how the executive orders and federal waiver impact assessment, accountability, the California System of Support, and the Local Control and Accountability Plan development process, reporting requirements, and submission timelines. The webinar also will include an interactive question-and-answer session.

To register, navigate to the event information page and select the "Register" link.

Registration Open for 2020 California Assessment Conference

A professional development opportunity for classroom educators, the 2020 California Assessment Conference (CAC) will provide a forum for:

• Exploring the connection between assessments and classroom instruction
• Hearing from other educators about their experiences with the comprehensive assessment system
• Learning how to utilize assessment resources in their schools and classrooms

For registration and details about the 2020 CAC, coming in October, visit the 2020 CAC website.

Now Available—CAA for Science Practice Test Scoring Guides

We are happy to announce that the California Alternate Assessment (CAA) for Science practice test scoring guides—for grades five and eight and high school—have been posted on the CAASPP website! These guides were developed to provide details about the CAA for Science practice performance task. The information includes: the Science Connector; the assessment targets (i.e., Focal Knowledge Skills and Abilities and Essential Understanding) that are being assessed in the performance task; the correct answers; scoring rubrics; and score points. The items selected for the CAA for Science practice performance tasks are designed to reflect the student's experience while being administered the assessment, but they are not intended to entirely represent the assessment.

The CAA for Science practice test scoring guides can be found in two locations on the CAASPP website: on the Test Examiner Resources for the Online Practice and Training Tests web page, within the expandable box labeled "CAA for Science," and on the CAAs web page, under the heading "CAA for Science Practice Test DFAs and Scoring Guides."

These guides are available to assist both you and your students in preparing for the CAA for Science. Please help us get word out to the field that these guides are now available!

Recent Improvements to CAASPP Web Pages!

Web page improvements recently have been made to the CAASPP website! Some highlights of these modifications include a reorganization of the CAAs web page to help users find general and program-specific material more easily. You will notice that this web page now includes all of the general information at the top of the web page, English language arts/literacy and mathematics in the middle, and science-related topics at the bottom.

Other improvements made throughout the CAASPP website include:

• Naming conventions of the files changed to help users more quickly locate necessary documents (e.g., listing the version number first)
  
• Headers added within tables to separate and organize documents more efficiently
  
• Expandable boxes were designed for the CAASPP assessments and added to the Test Administrator and Test Examiner Resources for the Online Practice and Training Tests web page

We suggest that you check out these enhancements soon and become familiar with how they can make your experience more user friendly.