The CAASPP, California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress, was introduced to provide a comprehensive evaluation of student knowledge and skills. CAASPP testing helps educators and administrators to understand and improve the quality of education in California. This guide will cover the different aspects of CAASPP testing to provide insights for educators on the test format, essential tips for preparation, and analyzing results.
The CAASPP is designed to evaluate student achievements in key academic areas. It encompasses a range of tests, including the English Language Arts and Mathematics portion aligned with the Common Core Standards and Science assessments aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards. The purpose of CAASPP is multi-layered: it serves not only as a measure of student performance but also as a tool for improving teaching methods and curriculum design.
The CAASPP is made up of the following assessment components:
The CAASPP results are important to help shape educational strategies at both the classroom and district levels. For administrators, CAASPP scores offer an overview of school and district performance, guiding decisions in resource allocation and program development. Parents also benefit from these results, gaining insights into their child's academic strengths and areas for improvement.
CAASPP assessments are computer-adaptive tests, which adjust the difficulty of questions based on the student's responses, providing a more accurate measurement of their abilities.
This portion focuses on evaluating students' critical thinking, analytical writing, and problem-solving skills for students in grades three through eight and eleven. These assessments are designed to gauge students' mastery of the Common Core State Standards, emphasizing depth of understanding, application of knowledge, and logical reasoning.
Science assessments, aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards, are administered to students in grades five and eight, as well as once in high school, assessing their understanding of scientific concepts and principles.
Preparing students for the CAASPP requires a strategic approach, combining the study of content with the various question formats to help students avoid the most common CAASPP mistakes. On the CST, the exam prior to the CAASPP, students needed to be prepared to navigate only the content and vocabulary on the exam. The CAASPP comes with two more additional cognitive stressors; tech and strategic thinking.
In order to prepare students for all four cognitive stressors present on the CAASPP, there are six essential educator skills teachers need to develop:
Essential Educator Skills:
CAASPP results provide a detailed breakdown of student performance, categorized into different achievement levels. It's important for educators and parents to understand how to interpret these scores, using them to guide students in their educational journey. There are four levels for ELA and Mathematics, with Level 3 (Standard Met) and Level 4 (Standard Exceeded) being the targets for all students.
Here's an example of the kind of data teachers receive from the CAASPP:
While the CAASPP data will clearly show what level your students are performing at, it can still be a challenge to identify exactly why students struggled with certain questions. This is why it is important to gather more regular, formative, data of student's performance on questions similar to the CAASPP so teachers can take action throughout the school year. By using more frequent and formative CAASPP practice tests, teachers can stay well informed and better understand if a student's main struggle is with actual content, technology, or a type of strategic thinking.
CAASPP testing is typically conducted in the spring, with each school setting its specific schedule within the state's testing window. Schools are responsible for ensuring that the testing environment is conducive to student performance, adhering to the guidelines set by the California Department of Education. Participation in CAASPP is mandatory for most students, but there are provisions for exemptions under certain circumstances.
