Assessment Spotlight, Issue 357

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 .

“Do Your Best on the Test” Video Showcase

The “Do Your Best on the Test” video showcase is now open. This showcase invites students to share how they prepare to do their best on statewide assessments. Students are also encouraged to share their thoughts on the importance of high-quality education and how it prepares them for college and careers.

Kindergarten through grade twelve students, individually or in teams, are encouraged to create a video that captures student voices and perspectives about doing their best on the test. Participants may be selected to have their video featured on the CAASPP & ELPAC YouTube channel and in social media posts. Portions of selected videos may also be incorporated into promotional materials shared with students across California to inspire students across California.

The video must include the phrase “Do Your Best on the Test” and creatively embrace one or more of the following goals:

• Why statewide testing is important
• How statewide testing supports college and/or career readiness
• Ways statewide testing improves teaching and learning
• How students prepare for statewide testing, such as tips to feel their best
• Impact of reclassification (ELPAC only)

Videos should be approximately 75 seconds long. Submit videos through the “Do Your Best on the Test” Student Video Showcase Submission Form . As part of the submission process, each participating student must complete and upload a CDE video release form .

A special shoutout to Ingenium Charter School for showcasing how their students do their best on the test! Their 2024‒25 video submission can be viewed on the CAASPP and ELPAC YouTube page . If you have any questions regarding this project, please contact Aimee Myers amyers@scoe.net.

Reminder: New Procedures for 2026 Golden State Seal Merit Diploma

Starting in 2025–26, the CDE is no longer mailing physical copies of the gold insignias and the black and white insignias to local educational agencies (LEAs). Instead, the CDE is transitioning to the use of a digital image of the insignias to be used on both the diploma and transcript. Once LEAs complete and submit a request form, the insignia images will be emailed directly to the requestor. LEAs should determine how the insignias will be applied onto the diploma and transcript well in advance of the end of the school year.

Depending upon an LEA’s unique factors, one of the following options may be preferable over another:

• LEAs can electronically embed the Golden State Seal directly onto the diploma or transcript prior to printing
• LEAs can choose to print the insignias themselves and affix them directly onto the diploma and transcript

Please visit the Golden State Seal Merit Diploma web page for more information. For any questions, please email GSSMD@cde.ca.gov.

March’s Featured Tools for Teachers Resource

Bring energy and curiosity into your next math lesson with this month’s featured Tools for Teachers resource, Tomato Tomato: 3 Act Math Task (account required). Designed for Grade 5 and aligned with the Number and Operations in Base Ten standards, this ready-to-use lesson transforms real-world problem solving into an experience students will not forget. With built-in student handouts and a digital teacher presentation, everything is prepared for you—so you can focus on facilitating rich conversations and watching your students’ thinking come alive.

The three-act structure keeps students hooked from start to finish. In Act 1, Notice/Wonder and Think-Pair-Share formative assessment activities invite curiosity and spark lively discussion around visual models. In Act 2, students roll up their sleeves to solve the problem in ways that make sense to them, using concrete models, drawings, and equations while you observe, listen, and highlight powerful strategies. Act 3 delivers the big reveal as students compare solutions, reflect on errors, and connect their reasoning back to the learning goal. Throughout the lesson, math becomes a story students can see, explain, and defend—naturally building discourse, collaboration, and critical thinking. If you are looking for a lesson that’s standards-based, discussion-rich, and genuinely fun, this one is ripe for the picking!

To view this and other Tools for Teachers resources, 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.