Assessment Spotlight, Issue 190

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 .

Registration for New Coordinator Training Webinars is Now Open

Calling all local educational agency (LEA) CAASPP and ELPAC coordinators who are new to their role or want a refresher! These two webinars are happening in July.

CAASPP—Welcome to Your Role

The Welcome to Your Role Webinar for CAASPP coordinators new to their role will take place on July14,2022, from 3–4 p.m. This webinar will offer coordinators an overview of the CAASPP System and the resources available to support them. Register at the New Coordinator Webinar - Welcome registration web page.

New Coordinator Webinar #1—Receiving Scores

Attention CAASPP and ELPAC coordinators: the first New Coordinator Webinar of the 2022–23 series will take place on July 21, 2022. This webinar is a deep dive into the release of the 2021–22 summative assessment scores. Register at the New Coordinator Webinar #1 - Receiving Scores registration web page.

Summer Trainings for LEA Staff Starting Soon!

There is still time to register for two CDE-hosted trainings that will kick off in July! These training sessions are a great way for LEA staff to get ready for the 2022–23 school year and are free of charge!

Interim and Formative Assessment Training Series

These three-hour training sessions for teachers and other LEA staff are organized into the following three modules:

• Module One—using the formative assessment process and Tools for Teachers website to boost instruction.
• Module Two—gauging student progress with the Smarter Balanced Interim Assessments and related online systems.
• Module Three—using hand scoring to analyze written responses, understand expectations, and determine instructional next steps.

Further information, including training dates and times and registration details, is available on the Interim and Formative Assessment Training Series registration page .

California Educator Reporting System (CERS) Training

Learn about the features and functions of CERS through these two-to-three-hour CERS training sessions. Separate sessions have been developed for two audiences—test coordinators and administrators, and teachers. Further information, including training dates, times, and registration instructions, is available through the following links:

• Introduction to CERS Training for Test Coordinators and Administrators registration page
• Introduction to CERS Training for Teachers registration page

Register for one or more of the summer training sessions today!

June’s Featured Resource in Tools for Teachers—Send in the Colons

In this month’s featured Tools for Teachers resource, Send in the Colons (account required), high school students learn colons are more than just part of an emoji, :). This English language arts instructional resource helps teachers provide students with opportunities to learn about the purpose and use of colons as a way to create emphasis or connect similar ideas in writing.

The step-by-step directions and slide presentation include information teachers need to provide instruction to students on the proper use of colons in writing. Formative assessment strategies, such as Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down and Think-Pair-Share, are recommended for checking student understanding during instruction and while students complete a practice worksheet. After instruction and worksheet completion, students (individually or in small groups) read a transcript with excerpts from John F. Kennedy’s 1961 inaugural address to identify where and in which instances a colon is used. The lesson concludes with students completing tasks on their Exit Ticket, prompting them to add colons in pre-written sentences using what they have learned about colons.

Send in the Colons is included in the Interim Assessment Connections Playlist for high school—Editing. This playlist consists of instructional resources that can be used to teach the content assessed on the corresponding focused Interim Assessment Block. To view this and other instructional resources, LEA staff need a Tools for Teachers account, which they can obtain either through self-registration, which is described in the flyer How to Self-Register for Tools for Teachers (PDF), or through their LEA CAASPP coordinator.

ELPAC Reminders

For Summative ELPAC, LEAs must request a pick-up of all completed kindergarten through grade two (K–2) Summative Writing Answer Books on or before June 15, 2022. The Answer Books must be sent to ETS for scoring and reporting to be completed.

For the Initial ELPAC, all scores for Speaking and Writing domains must be entered on or before June 30, 2022 into the Data Entry Interface or the Teacher Hand Scoring System, as applicable. Students taking the Initial ELPAC must complete all four domains (including domain exemptions) to be counted as participating and to generate a Student Score Report.

California Spanish Assessment Opportunity to Get Involved!

Are you a Spanish educator who is interested in the continued development of the California Spanish Assessment (CSA)? If so, the California Department of Education (CDE) invites you to submit your interest in an upcoming virtual CSA Data Review Meeting, which will be held July 11–12. During this meeting, educators will review data on the performance of field-test items. Do not miss out on this outstanding opportunity to learn more about the elements of test development and to network with other Spanish educators across California.

In addition, educators can submit their interest for the Item Content Specifications Meeting, which will be held on August 2 for grades three through six and August 3 for grades seven through twelve from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. During this meeting, educators will support the continued development of the CSA by providing feedback on the new Speaking and Writing stems.

To apply, you will need an Educator Opportunities Portal account. If you have not established one, you will need to create an account on the CAASPP and ELPAC Opportunities to Get Involved web page. If you already have created one, you can go directly to the Educator Opportunities Portal to apply.

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.