Assessment Spotlight, Issue 209

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 .

2021–22 Assessment Results Release

On October 24, 2022, the California Department of Education (CDE) publicly released the results for the 2021–22 administration of the CAASPP and the ELPAC.

The 2021–22 CAASPP summary reports include all results for the following assessments:

• Smarter Balanced English language arts/literacy (ELA) and mathematics summative assessments
• California Alternate Assessments (CAAs) for ELA and mathematics
• California Science Test
• California Spanish Assessment

The results for the CAA for Science will be released publicly in December 2022.

The 2021–22 ELPAC summary reports include all results for the following assessments:

• Initial ELPAC
• Summative ELPAC
• Summative Alternate ELPAC

Assessment results for the CAASPP and the ELPAC are available to the public on the Test Results for California’s Assessments website.

To provide essential background and factors to consider when interpreting California’s 2021–22 statewide assessment results, the CDE has created the Interpretation Guide to the 2021–22 Statewide Assessment Results, which can be found on the CDE California Assessment Results News Release web page.

LEAs: Last Day to Complete Your 1.0 Percent Threshold Survey!

The annual survey that local educational agencies (LEAs) must complete for the 1.0 percent threshold on CAASPP alternate assessments closes at the end of business today, October 28. The CDE 1.0 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 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 the 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 ELA, mathematics, and science should be included.

California Assessment Accessibility Resource Graphics for 2022–23

The updated California Assessment Accessibility Resource Graphics for the 2022–23 school year have been updated and are available on the CDE Student Accessibility Resources web page. These graphics display the embedded and non-embedded universal tools, designated supports, and accommodations allowed as part of the CAASPP and the ELPAC systems. Offered as quick reference guides for accessibility resources, these one-page documents are available for the following:

• English Language Arts/Literacy (PDF)
• Mathematics (PDF)
• Science (PDF)
• California Spanish Assessment (PDF)
• ELPAC Computer-based (PDF)
• ELPAC Paper–Pencil (PDF)

New Videos on the Use of Smarter Balanced Tools!

If you are looking for more information about tools to support instructional planning, you will want to know about two professional learning videos that are now available. These videos, both under 10 minutes in length, provide helpful tips for getting started with two tools developed to support teaching and learning:

• Smarter Annotated Response Tool Video —provides an overview of the Smarter Annotated Response Tool . This video showcases how student writing is scored on the Smarter Balanced ELA performance tasks and how educators can use the tool to support student writing. Highlights include how to browse the range of response types, exploring interactive scoring rationales and rubrics, and the potential to use the tool to practice scoring independently or with colleagues.

• Using the Interim Assessment Item Portal video —demonstrates how educators with interim assessment administration permissions can use the Interim Assessment Item Portal (account required) to search for individual interim assessment items (e.g., test questions) for ELA and mathematics to use in the classroom, supporting the flexible use of interim assessments. Highlights include how to view and print interim assessment items and sample scenarios for different uses of the tool. This portal can also be used to generate answer keys for the interim assessments.

Additional professional learning resources for the Smarter Annotated Response Tool, the Interim Assessment Item Portal, and more tools that make up the Smarter Balanced “ecosystem” can be accessed from the Tools for Teachers website (account required). Explore the resources to discover how these tools can support your instructional needs!

Instructional and Professional Learning Resources to Support Deeper Learning of Performance Tasks

When planning for instruction to help students show what they have learned while completing new learning tasks, educators benefit greatly from an understanding of higher-order thinking skills. To help build that understanding, two new sets of resources to help educators analyze the Common Core State Standards and the depth of knowledge assessed in the Smarter Balanced Interim Assessment performance tasks are available:

• Deeper Learning Educator Modules, which are designed to support educators in integrating higher-order thinking skills into their instruction. They can be used independently or with a team of educators as part of a professional learning community. Eight of these modules are available—four that focus on ELA and four that focus on mathematics. Topics include:
  
  
  • Understanding the claims, targets, and standards
  • Defining the skills students need to meet desired expectations

• Integrated Deeper Learning Resources, which are designed to support educators’ instruction in the full range of higher-order thinking skills that are measured by Smarter Balanced performance tasks. They can be used with students working together in groups or as individual assessments. For ELA, these resources are available for grade six and high school. For mathematics, they are available for grades four and six and high school. Additional resources for grades three through eight and high school will be available later this year in both content areas.

To view these integrated deeper learning resources and other professional learning resources, LEA staff need access to the Tools for Teachers website (account required). LEA staff can obtain an account either through self-registration (PDF) or through their LEA CAASPP coordinator.

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.