Assessment Spotlight, Issue 206
California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) email update, October 7, 2022.Focusing on the CAASPP System and English Language Proficiency Assessments for California (ELPAC)—and including, when timely, updates on California’s other statewide assessments. For questions related to test administration, coordination, and trainings, visit the CAASPP website and the ELPAC website .
Last Day to Register: California Assessment Conference
October 7 is the last day to register for the 2022 California Assessment Conference (CAC). The CAC is where you can tailor your learning by choosing from over 72 sessions presented by California Department of Education (CDE) staff, CAC trainers, and local educational agencies (LEAs) from across California.
To register, go to the 2022 CAC website. We look forward to seeing you at the conference!
Data-Driven Decision-Making Trainings for Educational Leaders
Registration is now open for the 2022–23 Data-Driven Decision-Making Training Series for Educational Leaders! This training series is designed for school and district leaders, including teachers on special assignment, academic coaches, curriculum staff, and others interested in accelerating learning using assessment data. Team attendance is encouraged.
The training series, consisting of four 90-minute modules, will include opportunities for attendees to engage with their statewide assessment data and available assessment tools. The modules are as follows:
- Module 1: Starting with Summative Results, which will cover data available from summative assessments and how that data can be used as a jumping-off point to find areas of opportunity and connections to classroom teaching and learning.
- Module 2: The Data and CERS, which will cover an overview of the California Educator Reporting System (CERS) as well as connect the data in CERS to next steps for classroom instruction.
- Module 3: The Ecosystem of Support, which will cover how data in CERS can lead to use of Tools for Teachers, the Smarter Balanced Content Explorer, Lexile and Quantile scores, the Smarter Annotated Response Tool, and information on accessibility resources.
- Module 4: Building Your Local Data System, which will cover why a local data-driven decision-making system is important and include shared examples as well as protected team planning time to construct actionable steps for creating or improving a robust local system.
Find registration, dates, and other details on the Data-Driven Decision-Making Training Series for Educational Leaders web page.
California Assessment Accessibility Resource Matrix for 2022–23
The updated California Assessment Accessibility Resource Matrix—commonly known as the Accessibility Matrix—for the 2022–23 school year is now posted! It displays the embedded and non-embedded universal tools, designated supports, and accommodations allowed as part of the CAASPP and the ELPAC systems. Updates to the 2022–23 Accessibility Matrix include the following:
- Addition of an ELPAC-A column to the accessibility resource category tables for the Initial Alternate and Summative Alternate ELPAC
- Inclusion of grade-level ranges, where applicable, in the test columns of the accessibility resource category tables
- Inclusion of the availability of the periodic table of the elements for a student who has the embedded Spanish stacked–dual language designated support assigned in the science charts description
- Addition of the new text-to-speech in Spanish designated support for mathematics items only (This designated support is for students taking the Smarter Balanced interim and summative mathematics assessments in conjunction with the designated support of Spanish stacked–dual language translations).
- Renaming of the embedded translations (glossary) universal tool to “Spanish glossary” for the California Spanish Assessment only (This change does not affect the non-embedded translations [glossary] designated support, which is available in multiple languages).
LEAs: Complete Your 1.0 Percent Threshold Survey
LEAs are reminded that the annual survey for the 1.0 percent threshold on CAASPP alternate assessments will be open until the close of business on October 12. The CDE One Percent Threshold on Alternate Assessments web page contains the link to the 2022–23 survey.
All LEAs are required to complete the survey whether or not they expect to exceed the 1.0 percent threshold. The survey is conducted in response to the requirements of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). While the CDE is required to both notify the U.S. Secretary of Education and post this information publicly, there are no formal repercussions to LEAs for exceeding the threshold. The overall intent of the ESSA regulations is to help address concerns about disproportionality related to potentially overidentifying students for alternate assessments.
Students who are eligible to take the ELPAC are not part of the 1.0 percent calculation. Only students eligible to take the CAASPP alternate assessments for English language arts/literacy, mathematics, and Science should be included.
Fall ELPAC New Coordinator Trainings—Register Now
Calling all LEA ELPAC coordinators who are new to their role or want a refresher! The 2022–23 New Coordinator Training—Fall ELPAC sessions will take place in November. Hosted by our county office of education partners, this training will cover the following:
- A review of the tasks associated with preparing for testing
- How to support sites during testing
- Planning for post-test activities such as gathering feedback from site coordinators and test administrators
To register for a training date in your county or region, visit the ELPAC Training Opportunities web page .
California Educator Reporting System Training Opportunities
The fall Introduction to CERS online training sessions for 2022–23 will kick off next week! Two distinct training sessions being offered:
- Introduction to CERS for Coordinators and Administrators. This session is for staff who are responsible for managing the LEA’s use of the CERS system—that is, users who have an LEA or site coordinator role in the Test Operations Management System. This online training will include opportunities to practice using various CERS features and will cover such topics as viewing interim assessment results, assigning teachers to their student’s results, and resources available for providing support to staff in the use of CERS.
- This session will be held on October 26 from 9 a.m. to noon. Register on the Introduction to CERS for Test Coordinators and Administrators web page .
- Introduction to CERS for Teachers. This session is for CERS users who have access to CERS data, such as teachers who have students rostered in CERS. This online training will engage attendees in an overview of CERS and will include such topics as viewing features for interim assessment results and customizing student groups.
- This session will be held on October 13 and November 1 from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. Register on the Introduction to CERS for Teachers web page .
In addition to these facilitated CERS training sessions, the Introduction to CERS for Test Coordinators and Administrator Training—Recorded Session and the Introduction to CERS for Teachers Training—Recorded Session along with the session presentation slides and notetaking guide (embedded in the notes for each video) are available for viewing.
Boosting Instruction with Formative Assessment and Accessibility Strategies
The CDE invites you to register for the upcoming webinar “Boosting Instruction with Formative Assessment and Accessibility Strategies,” which will be held on November 15 from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. This webinar—the second in the 2022–23 Tools for Teachers Shared Practices webinar series—is for administrators, classroom educators, and any other LEA staff interested in learning more about Tools for Teachers.
California educators will highlight ways they use formative assessment and accessibility strategies that are embedded in Tools for Teachers instructional resources, and a CDE staff member will share how Tools for Teachers resources support the implementation of the formative assessment process during instruction. The webinar will conclude with a question and answer session.
Go to the Tools for Teachers Webinar Registration web page to register!
Please share this email with any educators in your LEA who would be interested in or benefit from this information. To join the email list, send a blank email message to subscribe-caaspp@mlist.cde.ca.gov. Are you a new subscriber? Visit the CDE Assessment Spotlight web page to find previous issues.