Assessment Spotlight, Issue 312

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 .

Save-the-Date for the 2025 California Assessment Conference

The 2025 California Assessment Conference (CAC) will be held November 12–14, 2025 in Riverside, CA.

The 2025 CAC is a unique opportunity for all educators to explore the connections between classroom instruction and assessment. Join us with your school or district team to learn how other California educators use assessment tools and data to improve teaching and learning.

Stay tuned, conference registration will open soon!

Shared Practices: California Science Test Interim Assessments

The California Science Test (CAST) Interim Assessments are a valuable tool for both teaching and assessing science. Last fall, the California Department of Education (CDE) collaborated with a few local educational agencies (LEAs) to share strategies for using the CAST Interim Assessments. Educators from elementary, middle, and high school participated, and recordings of the Interim Assessment Shared Practices Webinar Series are available to watch on YouTube.

Over the next few weeks, shared practices for use of the CAST Interim Assessments from each grade band (elementary, middle, and high school) will be highlighted in the Assessment Spotlight to offer ideas that support teaching and learning.

Find more information about the CAST Interim Assessments on the CAASPP and ELPAC Interim Assessments web page .

California Spanish Assessment Testing Window Opened!

The California Spanish Assessment (CSA) opened on March 4, 2025. Of the 39,000 students registered to take the CSA so far, almost 400 students began their assessments over the past two weeks in Folsom-Cordova Unified, Colton Joint Unified, and Fairfield-Suisun Unified. We encourage all LEAs to assess all eligible students this year.

March’s Featured Resource in Tools for Teachers—A Rainy Day at the Farmer’s Market: Multiple Meaning Words

Elementary school teachers can use this month’s Tools for Teachers English language arts lesson plan, A Rainy Day at the Farmer's Market: Multiple Meaning Words ( account required), to help students understand words that have more than one meaning. The activities focus on using context clues to figure out the correct meaning of a word based on how it is used in a sentence.

The grade four lesson begins with the teacher showing students how to look for clues in a sentence to help them determine a word’s meaning. Then, students work together to find multiple meaning words in a story and use the context clues they have learned to figure out the best definition for each word. Formative assessment strategies such as Think-Pair-Share and Popsicle Sticks are embedded throughout the lesson to support student engagement. In addition, accessibility strategies, like Sentence Frames , are embedded to further support learning for all students. The attachments to the lesson plan provide teachers with a slide presentation, a word chart, sample text, and handouts.

To view this and other instructional resources, LEA staff can register for a Tools for Teachers account through self-registration, described in the How to Self-Register for Tools for Teachers (PDF) flyer, or through their LEA CAASPP or ELPAC 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.