Assessment Spotlight, Issue 385

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 .

Reminder: Complete the 1.0 Percent Threshold and Justification Survey

If you have not done so already, please complete the CAASPP 2026–27 One Percent Threshold Justification Survey by Friday, October 30, 2026.

Under the Every Student Succeeds Act, local educational agencies (LEAs) are required to notify the California Department of Education (CDE) if they expect to exceed 1.0 percent of their total assessed student population taking the California Alternate Assessments (CAAs) in English language arts/literacy, mathematics, and science for the CAASPP.

All LEAs are required to report the percentage of students anticipated to take the CAAs for the 2026–27 school year, whether the LEA anticipates exceeding the 1.0 percent cap, not exceeding the 1.0 percent cap, or has no students expected to take alternate assessments.

As part of this reporting process, all LEAs must annually certify that students identified for alternate assessments meet the criteria in Title 34 Code of Federal Regulations Section 200.6, including 1) demonstrated the most significant cognitive disabilities, 2) need for extensive, individualized instruction and support, and 3) eligibility is not based solely on low academic performance or accommodation needs.

Authentic Tasks for Learning and Assessment in Science Webinar Series

Registration is now open for the Authentic Tasks for Learning and Assessment in Science (ATLAS) 2026–27 Webinar Series . Developed in partnership with California educators, this three-part webinar series from the CDE and the Los Angeles County Office of Education offers a unique learning opportunity designed specifically for classroom teachers, instructional coaches, and administrators.

Hear directly from California teachers about how they use performance tasks to make student thinking and reasoning visible and hear coaches and LEA leaders share how they support teachers in leveraging ATLAS in the classroom. Each webinar is grounded in the idea that performance tasks encourage students to bring rich scientific reasoning to the classroom, surfacing better information about student progress for responsive teaching and learning. Webinars in this series each offer a different focus: how performance tasks engage learners and surface sensemaking, how educators interpret student work together to recognize strengths, provide feedback, and plan next steps, and how schools and systems can make this practice routine. There will also be time allotted for questions and answers.

Audience: LEA staff, K-12 teachers, instructional coaches, and administrators.

The three webinars in the series are:

• November 18, 2026, 4:30–5:30 p.m.
  • Seeing Student Sensemaking: ATLAS Performance Tasks as a Path to Teaching, Learning, and Assessment for the Next Generation Science Standards
    

• January 20, 2027, 4:30–5:30 p.m.
• Understanding Students’ Science Reasoning: Interpreting Student Work from ATLAS Performance Tasks to Guide Teaching and Learning

• March 17, 2027, 4:30–5:30 p.m.
  • Systems That See Reasoning: Using ATLAS Performance Tasks as a Path to Equity for All Learners

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 CDE Assessment Spotlight web page.