Assessment Spotlight, Issue 361

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 and ELPAC website .

Systems Downtime Reminder

The CAASPP and ELPAC Test Operations Management System will be unavailable for a scheduled downtime from today, Friday, April 10, at 5 p.m. to Sunday, April 12, at 8 p.m. Visit the CAASPP-ELPAC System Downtime Schedule web page for more information about this and other scheduled downtimes through June 2027.

April’s Featured Tools for Teachers Resource

This month’s featured Tools for Teachers resource, Drop It Like It’s... (account required) is an engaging high school physical science lesson that brings Newton’s Second Law to life through hands-on experimentation and interactive modeling. Students, working in small groups, create a device using a template to investigate the relationship between force, mass, and acceleration. By collecting and analyzing data, they discover how these variables interact mathematically through the formula F = ma.

Formative assessment is seamlessly integrated throughout the lesson to promote deep understanding and real-time feedback. Strategies such as Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down and Strategic Questioning help gauge students' grasp of learning goals, uncover misconceptions, and guide instruction. Students also use sticky notes in the Blanket the Table strategy, collaborate on an Anchor Chart to build consensus, and complete an Exit Ticket reflection to synthesize their learning.

Through this structured inquiry and the ongoing formative checks, students not only grasp the core of Newton’s Second Law but also practice scientific reasoning, collaboration, and data analysis.
To view this and other Tools for Teachers resources, local educational agency (LEA) staff need a Tools for Teachers account, which is free of charge and can be obtained either through self-registration, described in the flyer How to Self-Register for Tools for Teachers (PDF) or by contacting their testing coordinator.

To receive future CAASPP and ELPAC updates and notifications, subscribe to the CAASPP mailing list by sending a blank email message to subscribe-caaspp@mlist.cde.ca.gov. Are you a new subscriber? For previous Assessment Spotlight issues, visit the California Department of Education Assessment Spotlight web page.