Assessment Spotlight, Issue 377

Focusing on the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (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 .

New Coordinator Training Webinar–Accessibility

Register now for the New Coordinator Training Webinar—Accessibility on September 17, 2026, 3–4 p.m. This webinar will focus on:

• The “why” of accessibility
• 1–2–3–4s of accessibility
• Key resources for accessibility

This webinar provides timely guidance and opportunities to ask experienced coordinators questions.

Audience: Local educational agency (LEA) CAASPP and ELPAC coordinators who have been in their role for less than 12 months or want a refresher on coordinator responsibilities.

We hope you can join us!

2026 California Assessment Conference–Customized Learning and Outstanding Keynote

Register today for the annual California Assessment Conference (CAC) that will take place on October 27–29, 2026, at the Riverside Convention Center in Riverside, CA. This year’s conference will focus on Elevating Best Practices, Inspiring Teachers and Students. A detailed schedule, including optional pre-conference Assessment 101 sessions and a new Interim Assessment Hand Scoring workshop for the upcoming CAC, is now available on the CAC website .

Customize your learning by selecting from more than 80 sessions presented by educators across California. Keynote speaker Talithia Williams, a statistician, math professor, and cohost of the PBS series NOVA Wonders, will speak about transforming systems to ensure all students have access to a high-quality education.

Authentic Tasks for Learning and Assessment in Science

In a collaborative effort between the Los Angeles County Office of Education and the California Department of Education (CDE), the Authentic Tasks for Learning and Assessment in Science (ATLAS) website is now available. ATLAS is a free, user-friendly, online resource offering over 1,300 science lessons for grades K–12 that are aligned to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Each task is designed to support authentic science inquiry and performance assessment. California educators can access the ATLAS task bank and register for a free account by visiting the ATLAS website .

New Features in the California Educator Reporting System

The California Educator Reporting System (CERS) provides educators with secure access to student assessment results to help inform instruction. Based on educator feedback, several enhancements have been made that allow educators to:

• Export student responses to interim assessment items—New buttons allow educators to download students’ responses for the entire interim assessment or for a specific item.
  
• Download a ZIP file of Individual Student Reports (ISRs)—A new option is available to download separate ISRs in a ZIP file with one PDF per student.
  
• Link to default district resource for all assessments—District-level users can post a link to a default district resource for all assessments instead of linking the resource separately for each assessment.
  
• Assign more students to a group—The maximum number of students that can be included in a student group increased from 200 to 400 students.

Additional updates were made to enhance navigation and organization, strengthen screen reader support, and improve color contrast. More details about the enhancements to CERS are included in the Enhancements in the California Educator Reporting System (CERS) email that went out to all LEAs on August 18, 2026.

Assessment and Accountability Information Meeting Day 1 Questions and Answers Now Available on Padlet

Every year, the Assessment and Accountability Information Meeting (AAIM) provides important assessment and accountability updates which generates thoughtful questions from California educators. We often hear the same request: “Can we get a copy of the questions and answers?” This year, we are making that happen.

For the first time, questions and answers from Day 1 of the 2026 AAIM (Assessment Updates) are available on the AAIM Day 1 Questions and Answers Padlet . Use this resource to revisit questions or explore answers you may have missed during the August 13 webinar. Information is accurate as of August 13, 2026, but is subject to change.

Please note that the Padlet is closed to any additional questions. Thank you to everyone who asked questions, shared their expertise, and helped make this year's AAIM a valuable opportunity for learning and connection.

You asked. We Listened. Now the answers are yours to revisit.

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.