FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT THE CAASPP CALIFORNIA ASSESSMENT OF STUDENT PERFORMANCE & PROGRESS
1. Who will take the online CAASPP (Smarter Balanced) summative assessments? All students in grades 3-‐8 and 11 except students with significant learning disabilities who will be taking the ACAP (previously the CAPA). 2. What is covered in the test? There will be two components assessing the Common Core standards for both English Language Arts/Literacy (ELA) and Mathematics: The Computer adaptive test (CAT) and Performance Task (PT). 3. How does the Computer Adaptive Test (CAT) work? The computer adaptive portion of the online test includes a wide variety of item types. As students progress throughout a CAT, the computer program adjusts the difficulty of questions throughout the assessment based on their responses. For example, a student who answers a question correctly will receive a more challenging item, while an incorrect answer generates an easier question. 4. What is the Performance Task (PT) component of the online summative assessment? The Performance Task (PT) is designed to provide students with an opportunity to demonstrate their ability to apply their knowledge and higher-‐ order thinking skills to explore and analyze a complex, real-‐world scenario. Prior to the Performance Task (PT), teachers conduct a classroom Activity for all students to ensure that a lack of understanding of the context of the task does not interfere with a student’s ability to address the content of the task. 5. How can I prepare my child for the test? Children attending school, well rested with a good breakfast tend to do their best when testing. Practice and Training tests are available online at http://caaspp.org/practice-‐and-‐training/index.html. Or practice with i-‐Ready at login.i-‐ready.com.
6. Important notes about Practice and Training Tests: Practice and Training Tests do not • Assess all the standards • Predict a student’s success • Produce scores Practice Tests • Provide practice for each grade level for grades 3-‐8 and 11 in both ELA and math • Contain approximately 30 items along with a Performance Task • Provide practice to all universal tools, supports and accommodations Scoring rubrics and answers are available at http://caaspp.org/ta-‐ resources/index.html Training Tests • Are available for grade level bands only (3-‐5, 6-‐8 and High School) • Contain approximately 14 items (6 ELA and 8-‐9 math) • Do not provide Performance Tasks, scoring rubrics or answer keys • Provide practice with all universal tools, supports and accommodations 7. GUSD Testing Window: March 24 to June 3, 2015 8. Estimated Testing Times for Grades 3-‐6:
English Language Arts/Literacy (ELA)
Mathematics
Computer Adaptive Test (CAT)
1.5 hours
1.5 – 2 hours
30 minutes
30 minutes
Performance Task (PT)
2 hours
1 hour
Total Testing Time
4 hours
3 – 4.5 hours
Classroom Activity