Assessment Spotlight April 25, 2019

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.

New for CAASPP and ELPAC: "Get Involved" Web Pages!

Are you interested in getting involved in the continuing development of the CAASPP and the ELPAC? We need input from California educators, and it is now much easier for you to find out about the activities the California Department of Education (CDE) has scheduled and to let us know which ones hold your interest! To learn about upcoming activities, visit our new Get Involved web pages:

• CAASPP Opportunities to Get Involved web page. Find opportunities related to the California Alternate Assessments, the California Science Test (CAST), and the California Spanish Assessment here, including item writing (with training beforehand), item review, review of range achievement level descriptors, data review, standard setting, range finding, and braille item review.    Local educational agencies (LEAs) will be reimbursed for the cost of a substitute teacher (if needed) or participants will be paid an honorarium of $150.00 per day (if on non-contract days).
  
  
• ELPAC Opportunities to Get Involved web page. Find opportunities related to the ELPAC and Alternate ELPAC here, including item writing (with training beforehand), content review, bias and sensitivity review, field test threshold score review, range finding, data review, item review, and ALD development.
  
  As with the CAASPP opportunities, LEAs will be reimbursed for the cost of a substitute teacher (if needed) or participants will be paid an honorarium of $150.00 per day (if on non-contract days).

In addition, these pages include qualification information, application instructions, and links to create an account and submit your application.

Educational Testing Service, in partnership with the Sacramento County Office of Education, developed the Get Involved web pages to facilitate educators' participation in upcoming workshops for 2019–20 and beyond. These web pages will be updated throughout the coming months, so please check back often for the latest developments. Remember, your participation and input provide important support in the development of our state assessments!

If you have questions about how to get involved in these educator opportunities, please contact the CAASPP and ELPAC Project Team by phone at 916-228-2682 or by email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Focus on Test Security—Pause Rules and Grace Period Extensions

This week, in our focus on test security, we look at the pause rules and grace period extensions. If a test is paused for more than 20 minutes during the Smarter Balanced computer adaptive test (CAT) portion or during the CAST discrete item blocks, the following will apply:

• The student will be required to log back on to the student interface, using the student's logon information (name, Statewide Student Identifier, and test session).
• The student will be presented with the page containing the item(s) the student was working on when the assessment was paused if the page contains at least one item to which there is not a complete response; if, however, all items on the page were answered, the student will be presented with the next page.
• The student will not be permitted to review or change any previously answered items, even if they are marked for review (with the exception of items on a page that contains at least one item to which there is not a complete response).

Any highlighted text will be saved regardless of how long the test is paused; notes entered on the digital notepad, however, will not be saved. For a performance task (PT), no pause restrictions apply. If a PT is paused for more than 20 minutes, the student can return to the section and continue entering responses.

Grace period extension (GPE) appeals are only for situations in which one of the following occurs during a Smarter Balanced CAT portion or the CAST:

• A technical issue beyond the control of the test administrator results in the expiration of the 20-minute pause rule.

• The 20-minute pause rule expires through no fault of the student; for example, because of a fire drill, illness, or technical difficulty. (A GPE extension will not be granted for student breaks such as recess or lunch lasting for more than 20 minutes or for students who misunderstood the pause rules.)
  
  

A GPE appeal for a CAT portion allows the student to review previously answered questions upon logging back on to the assessment after the expiration of the pause rule. Note that for a PT, having the test administrator open a new testing session may be all that is needed to continue testing.

To review the rules that govern pausing during testing, refer to Appendix E: CAT Pause Rules Scenarios in the Online Test Administration Manual.

New Video––ELPAC Accessibility Resources

The new video "ELPAC Accessibility Resources" demonstrates how the CDE supports accessibility resources (i.e., universal tools, designated supports, and accommodations) for the ELPAC. A useful resource for anyone interested in learning about how to match student needs to the appropriate resources, this video is especially helpful for teachers and parents/guardians.

Please be sure to view this video, approximately 19 minutes in length, to learn more about the process for identifying the appropriate resources to assist students in fully accessing the ELPAC.

Reminder: Registration Is Open for 2019 Summer Institute!

Registration is open for the 2019 Summer Institute, "Analyzing Student Work and Using the Interim and Digital Library Systems to Inform Teaching and Learning." Offered at eight locations throughout California in July and early August, this two-day, in-person professional development opportunity is for classroom teachers, instructional coaches, and teachers on special assignment. Administrators also may find this training useful. The goals of this training are for participants to understand the following:

• The purpose of different types of assessment and how they work together to support learning

• The design of Smarter Balanced Interim Assessment items aligned with college- and career-ready standards and the use of hand scoring to analyze student responses

• How to use interim assessment and Digital Library systems, including accessibility featuresSchools and LEAs may want to consider sending educator teams that divide their participation between the English language arts/literacy and mathematics content areas.

Visit the CAASPP 2019 Summer Institute registration website for online registration, details about the workshop, and a workshop flyer. Questions about this training should be directed to the California Technical Assistance Center by phone at 800-955-2954 or by e-mail at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

All About Accessibility

Spanish stacked translation is an embedded designated support that provides the student with the full translation of each test item. The translation appears above the original item. This designated support is available for students whose primary language is not English and who use dual language supports in the classroom. Caution is advised when considering this resource for students who are not fluent in Spanish. The following questions can help guide the decision:

·Are the student's skills in speaking, reading, and writing in Spanish appropriate for this resource?

·Has the student had an opportunity to try the practice test with the Spanish stacked translation?

·Has the student or parent/guardian provided input on the use of this support?

·If the student does not have strong reading skills in Spanish but still needs translation, should read aloud in Spanish be assigned?

More information on the use of Spanish stacked translation can be found in Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium: Usability, Accessibility, and Accommodations Guidelines, available on the Smarter Balanced website, and the Accessibility Guide for CAASPP Online Testing, available on the CAASPP Portal. In addition, short video tutorials are available on the CAASPP Portal. Find them on the Embedded Universal Tools, Designated Supports, and Accommodations Video Tutorials web page.

Please share this email with any educators in your local educational agency who would be interested in or benefit from this information. To join the email list, send a blank email message to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Are you a new subscriber? Visit the CDE Assessment Spotlight web page to find previous issues.