ELPAC Assessment Annual Checklist

Month-by-month checklist

The checklist begins with July to follow the 2026–27 assessment administration year.

• July Launch the new administration year
  • Confirm access after rollover. Verify LEA and site coordinator roles, test examiner access, and staff access to TOMS, the Test Delivery System, the Data Entry Interface (DEI), and the Teacher Hand Scoring System (THSS), as applicable.
  • Complete required security documentation. Make sure each person with access to secure systems or materials completes the agreement or affidavit associated with that person’s assigned role.
  • Launch Initial ELPAC operations. Confirm student data flowing from CALPADS to TOMS, identify eligible students, notify families before testing, and schedule trained examiners.
  • Protect the 30-day timeline. Administer the Initial ELPAC or Initial Alternate ELPAC and provide written results within 30 calendar days of the student’s first day of enrollment. For kindergarten students previously enrolled in transitional kindergarten, calculate the assessment deadline from the kindergarten enrollment start date.
  • Verify scoring and status. Complete required local scoring and DEI or THSS entry, confirm the Student Score Report, and verify that the official EL or IFEP status reaches CALPADS.
  • Prepare materials and technology. Inventory current materials, order kindergarten through grade two Writing Answer Books as needed, test devices and headphones, and communicate scheduled system downtimes.
• August Stabilize enrollment and access
  • Reconcile newly enrolled students across the student information system, CALPADS, and TOMS; resolve missing students, duplicate identifiers, grade discrepancies, and incorrect English Language Acquisition Status records promptly.
  • Establish a weekly Initial ELPAC monitoring routine for untested students, incomplete domains, local scoring, SSR availability, parent notification, and CALPADS status.
  • Confirm that examiners have completed the current required training and calibration for the assessment and grade spans they administer.
  • Review accessibility resources with special education and Section 504 teams; enter approved embedded resources in TOMS before testing and communicate non-embedded resources to examiners.
  • Provide site coordinators with escalation contacts, secure-material procedures, and a local incident-response process using STAIRS in TOMS.
• September Monitor and correct
  • Continue Initial and Initial Alternate ELPAC testing for eligible new students and monitor every case against its individual deadline.
  • Audit student demographic, enrollment, grade, school, and ELAS data in CALPADS and TOMS; document corrections and confirm the overnight data exchange.
  • Review completion and scoring status by site, grade, and examiner; follow up on missing domains or unresolved hand scoring.
  • Share current practice and training tests and reinforce standardized administration expectations with site staff.
  • Confirm procedures for secure storage, checkout, return, inventory, and local destruction of secure materials.
• October Begin Summative planning
  • Review the current Summative and Summative Alternate ELPAC administration manuals, estimated testing times, and state training requirements.
  • Build the local February–May testing plan, including site windows, make-up testing, one-to-one domains, staffing, rooms, devices, and materials movement.
  • Identify and train site coordinators, test examiners, proctors, and other staff according to their assigned responsibilities.
  • Review the current California Assessment Accessibility Resources Matrix and begin IEP or Section 504 team discussions when student needs require consideration.
  • Check the official primary ordering window and submit orders for kindergarten through grade two Summative ELPAC Writing materials and other authorized materials.
• November Train and configure
  • Continue role-based Summative ELPAC training and confirm completion of required online training or calibration activities.
  • Verify current TOMS users and roles; remove unnecessary access and identify staff who still need accounts or annual security forms.
  • Develop local administration procedures covering schedules, materials, student movement, make-ups, accessibility resources, and incident reporting.
  • Coordinate with technology staff to test secure browsers, operating systems, headphones, network capacity, and support coverage on the equipment students will use.
  • Review the enrolled English learner population, including students potentially eligible for the Summative Alternate ELPAC, and begin resolving data questions before the window opens.
• December Complete readiness checks
  • Complete site training plans and verify that each examiner is prepared for the grade spans, domains, and assessment type assigned.
  • Receive, inventory, label, and securely store delivered kindergarten through grade two Writing materials; resolve shortages through the official ordering process.
  • Confirm local parent or guardian advance-notification procedures for the Summative and Summative Alternate ELPAC.
  • Review site schedules and test-session plans for conflicts, holidays, staffing gaps, one-to-one administrations, and make-up capacity.
  • Continue Initial ELPAC operations for newly eligible students without allowing Summative preparation to interrupt the 30-day identification process.
• January Final Summative preflight
  • Run a final student-roster reconciliation among the student information system, CALPADS, and TOMS; verify school, grade, ELAS, and assessment assignment.
  • Confirm TOMS roles, completed security forms, examiner training, and local site-readiness attestations.
  • Verify embedded and non-embedded accessibility resources before students begin testing; correct settings using the current state process.
  • Test devices, headphones, secure browsers, network readiness, and local technology-support procedures at every site.
  • Distribute secure materials to sites using documented chain-of-custody procedures and confirm secure storage.
  • Send final schedules, family communications, incident-reporting instructions, and escalation contacts to sites.
• February Open the Summative window
  • Begin Summative and Summative Alternate ELPAC administration on or after February 1 according to current state and local schedules.
  • Monitor participation and completion daily or weekly; distinguish students who have not started, paused tests, incomplete domains, and students requiring make-up testing.
  • Track newly enrolled and transferring English learners so testing responsibility is clear and duplicate or missed administrations are prevented.
  • Use STAIRS in TOMS to report test security incidents and follow the resulting instructions, including submitting an appeal when directed.
  • Continue Initial and Initial Alternate ELPAC testing for eligible new students and maintain separate deadline monitoring.
• March Monitor participation and scoring
  • Review completion reports by site and student; intervene early where participation, staffing, absences, or incomplete domains place completion at risk.
  • Confirm that kindergarten through grade two Writing materials are processed and returned for scoring according to current directions and deadlines.
  • Review transfers, exits, newly enrolled students, domain exemptions, and alternate-assessment assignments for correct handling.
  • Maintain secure materials inventories and reconcile materials moving between the LEA and sites.
  • Complete annual coordinator or superintendent designation activities by the current official deadline, if applicable to the LEA.
• April Close participation gaps
  • Produce a student-level remaining-testing list and assign make-up dates, staff, and locations for every incomplete administration.
  • Reconcile students who transferred during the window and document which LEA is responsible for completing testing.
  • Verify that accessibility resources and domain exemptions are supported by current documentation and accurately reflected in TOMS.
  • Prepare local processes for receiving, reviewing, distributing, and explaining Student Score Reports.
  • Begin Initial ELPAC training and materials planning for the next administration year; check current training and ordering announcements.
• May Finish the Summative administration
  • Complete all Summative and Summative Alternate ELPAC administrations by May 31; schedule enough make-up opportunities to address absences and incomplete domains.
  • Review final completion and participation reports and resolve discrepancies before the window closes.
  • Return or process secure and scorable materials according to the current manual and posted shipping deadlines.
  • Document incidents, appeals, irregularities, local decisions, and unresolved cases for year-end review.
  • Finalize the local results-communication plan for administrators, instructional staff, students, and families.
  • Prepare the next Initial ELPAC cycle: confirm staffing, training, devices, scoring procedures, materials orders, and summer pre-enrollment decisions.
• June Close out and prepare for rollover
  • Complete current-year Initial and Initial Alternate ELPAC work by June 30, including local scoring and required score entry.
  • Follow current instructions for secure return or local destruction of used and unused materials, complete any required certification, and retain local documentation.
  • Review Summative results as they become available and provide results to families within the current required timeframe and in an accessible, understandable form.
  • Download and retain reports needed for local records before scheduled rollover or system downtime; follow state records-retention directions.
  • Update the coordinator roster, remove access that is no longer needed, and prepare user assignments for the new administration year.
  • Conduct an after-action review with sites covering participation, incidents, accessibility, technology, materials, training, and recommended improvements.
• Ongoing responsibilities Every month
  • Monitor CALPADS-to-TOMS student data and correct enrollment, grade, school, demographic, and ELAS discrepancies quickly.
  • Identify eligible new students, provide advance testing notice, administer the appropriate Initial ELPAC, complete scoring, and issue written results within the required timeline.
  • Protect test security and confidentiality; maintain secure materials inventories and report incidents through STAIRS in TOMS.
  • Confirm examiner training and support standardized administration, including one-to-one domains and locally scored responses.
  • Coordinate accessibility resources with educators, special education staff, Section 504 teams, and families as appropriate.
  • Read current CDE Assessment Spotlight messages, TOMS notifications, system downtime notices, manuals, and assigned support communications.
  • Monitor participation, completion, scoring, SSR availability, parent notification, and unresolved cases using local controls that identify both the student and responsible staff member.