California Spanish Assessment

Program Overview

The California Spanish Assessment (CSA) is a new assessment under development for the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) System. This assessment, presented in Spanish, serves the more than one million students who speak Spanish as their primary language as well as those who are learning Spanish as an additional language. The purposes of the CSA are to:

• Measure a student’s competency in Spanish language arts and provide student-level data in Spanish competency.
• Evaluate the implementation of Spanish language arts programs at the local level.
• Provide a high school measure suitable to be used, in part, for the State Seal of Biliteracy.

The following links provide additional information about the program:

California Assessment Timeline (PDF) presents the assessment administration timeline for the 2020–21, 2021–2022, and 2022–23 school years.

Assessment System Chart (PDF) lists the tests of the 2020–21 California assessment system by subject content, test name, test type, student participant groups, grade levels, and testing window time frame.

Resources and Communication Materials

• CSA Guidance for Analyzing Results (PDF)
• Resources for Communicating with Parents
• CSA Fact Sheet (PDF)
• CSA–Key Messages
• Parent Guide to Understanding the CSA (PDF)
• "What is the CSA?" Video
• "¿Qué es la CSA?" Video
• CSA – Start a Practice Test (PDF)
• Benefits of Administering the CSA flyer (PDF)

Test Administration

• Optional CSA Parent/Guardian Notification Letter (DOCX)
• Test Administration Coordination website
• Quick Reference Guides
• Spanish Student Accessibility Graphic (PDF)
• Student Accessibility Resources

Scores and Results Reporting

CSA Student Score Report Information

CSA Results website

CAASPP Starting Smarter website

CSA Score Reporting Ranges (PDF) provides the score reporting ranges by grade.

Laws, Regulations, and Requirements

• California Education Code Section 60640
• CAASPP Regulations (DOC)
• Common Core State Standards en Español

Technical Documents

• CSA Blueprint (PDF)
• 2018–19 Standard Setting Technical Report for the CSA (PDF)
• California Spanish Assessment 2018–2019 Technical Report (PDF; 2MB)
• Appendix 3 (PDF)
• Appendix 4 (PDF)
• Appendix 5 (PDF)
• Appendix 6 (PDF)
• Appendix 7 (PDF; 2MB)