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Computer Based ELPAC Accessibility Resource Graphic

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Computer Based ELPAC Accessibility Resource Graphic

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Assistive Technology and Remote Learning: "Control Alt Achieve's" Google Tools for Education Extensions to Support Students Who Are Students with Disabilities

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Marcus-Reclassification  from EL Status Student Scenario

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California Practitioners' Guide for Educating ELs with Disabilities

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K-12

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State Board of Education Approved Content Standards

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State Board of Education Approved Content Standards

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Content standards were designed to encourage the highest achievement of every student, by defining the knowledge, concepts, and skills that all students should acquire at each grade level.

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The content standards adopted by the California State Board of Education are listed below: Printed publications can be purchased from CDE Press Educational Resources Catalog.

Current Standards

Search the California Content Standards
This application contains the 12 California content standards. The application is designed so educators can quickly find, search, and sort relevant standards across disciplines to aid in instructional planning and assessment. This is a web view of our available mobile application, which we encourage you to download. You can find more information about the mobile application on the CA Standards Mobile Application web page.

English Language Arts

Mathematics

English Language Development

English Language Development 2012

Brochures for Parents/Guardians
These brochures on the ELA/literacy standards provide parents/guardians insights into what their children are learning as they progress through the grade levels. The brochures also offer suggestions for parents/guardians to support their students' learning and a list of additional resources.
Spanish

Career Technical Education

Computer Science

Health Education

History-Social Science

History-Social Science, Adopted October 1998 (PDF)

Brochures for Parents/Guardians
These brochures on the history-social science framework provide parents/guardians insights into what their children are learning as they progress through the grade levels. The brochures also provide a brief summary of the instructional shifts in the framework.

Model School Library

Physical Education

Science

California Next Generation Science Standards

Brochures for Parents/Guardians
These brochures on the science standards provide parents/guardians insights into what their children are learning as they progress through the grade levels. The brochures also offer suggestions for parents/guardians to support their students' learning and a list of additional resources.
Spanish

Arts Education

The State Board of Education (SBE) adopted the California Arts Standards for Public Schools, Prekindergarten Through Grade Twelve ( Arts Standards) on January 9, 2019.To download the publication version of the standards, select the link below:

Information about the 2019 Visual and Performing Arts Content Standards Revision is available on the California Arts Standards Web page.

World Languages

The State Board of Education (SBE) adopted the World Languages Standards for Public Schools, Kindergarten Through Grade Twelve on January 9, 2019. To download the publication version of the standards, select the link below:

Previous Content Standards

Questions: Curriculum Frameworks and Instructional Resources Division | CFIRD@cde.ca.gov | 916-319-0881

Last Reviewed: Wednesday, July 13, 2022

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The content standards adopted by the California State Board of Education are listed below: Printed publications can be purchased from CDE Press Educational Resources Catalog. Current Standards Search the California Content Standards This application contains the 12 California content standards.

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The California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) Website

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The California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) Website

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Students in grades three through eight and grade eleven will receive full-length summative tests for both English language arts/literacy and mathematics, with approximately seven to eight hours of total testing time for each student.

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Latest News and Tips for the CAASPP Administration

Planned System Downtime
Various CAASPP and ELPAC systems will be unavailable for scheduled system downtime Thursday, January 5, at 5 p.m., through Tuesday, January 10, 2023, at 8 a.m. For additional details, refer to the CAASPP Planned System Downtime web page.

SSID Swap Criteria for MIDs and Retired SSIDs
Important information regarding SSID swap criteria for MIDs is available on the SSID Swap Criteria for MIDs and Retired SSIDs web page. Review the scenarios for next steps in transferring completed assessments to a new SSID.

Useful Reference Guides
The Pause Rules Guide and the Expiration Rules Guide were updated and can be found on the Videos and Quick Reference Guides web page.

Testing in California

California local educational agency (LEA) testing coordinators can use this website to find helpful information, instructions, training, forms, and external links for test administration.

LEAs are administering the following tests:

English language arts/literacy and mathematics assessments (grades three through eight and grade eleven):

Smarter Balanced

California Alternate Assessments (CAAs)

Science assessments (grades five and eight and high school):

California Science Test

CAA for Science

Spanish assessments (grades three through eight and high school):

California Spanish Assessment

About California Testing >

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Various CAASPP and ELPAC systems will be unavailable for scheduled system downtime Thursday, January 5, at 5 p.m., through Tuesday, January 10, 2023, at 8 a.m. For additional details, refer to the CAASPP Planned System Downtime web page. Important information regarding SSID swap criteria for MIDs is available on the SSID Swap Criteria for MIDs and Retired SSIDs web page.

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The Smarter Balanced assessment system is designed to support instruction and give teachers better information about their students’ progress.

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The Smarter Balanced assessment system includes a comprehensive suite of standards-aligned assessments and tools-including instructional supports, interim assessments, and summative assessments-to support effective teaching and maximize learning for each individual student.

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Developed by Teachers for Teachers At the center of our work is a commitment to equity, accessibility, and ensuring that teachers are equipped with what they need to support students of diverse backgrounds and abilities for successful productive futures. A Smarter Assessment System The Smarter Balanced assessment system includes a comprehensive suite of standards-aligned assessments...

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ELPAC Starting Smarter – English Language Proficiency Assessments for California

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Webinar Series: Supporting Multilingual and English Learner Students During Distance Learning 

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Webinar Series: Supporting Multilingual and English Learner Students During Distance Learning 

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Region 15 Comprehensive Center, the California Teachers Association, and the California Department of Education, 2020.
This webinar series addresses the ways educators can support multilingual and English Learner students in distance learning.

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Sponsored by the Region 15 Comprehensive Center at WestEd, in collaboration with the California Teachers Association and the California Department of Education, this webinar series addresses the ways educators can support multilingual and English Learner students in distance learning.

How to Support Young English Learners at Home with Language and Literacy Development
View the recording and download the presentation slides
Language and literacy are critical for young students to develop in the first few years of school. Now that schools are operating in distance learning environments, it is essential to involve families in supporting language and literacy development at home. In this webinar, teachers, coaches, and administrators will receive guidance, resources, and activities that can be shared with families and caregivers to strengthen language and literacy development with English Learners at home.

The following topics will be addressed in this session:

Lesson Planning for English Learners in Distance Learning Environments: Secondary Educators
View the recording and download the presentation slides
Distance learning experiences that promote conceptual and linguistic development for English Learners require a shift in teacher expertise and instructional design. This webinar will demonstrate how secondary educators can adapt and implement lessons in a distance learning environment that promote rigor and high levels of support. Participants will learn how to plan appropriate scaffolds for students engaging with subject-matter content in synchronous, asynchronous, and no-tech environments.

The following topics will be addressed in this session:

Lesson Planning for English Learners in Distance Learning Environments: Elementary Educators
View the recording and download the presentation slides
Engaging elementary students in distance learning has particular challenges. Ensuring age-appropriate learning experiences that couple high challenges with high supports and promote language development requires teachers to shift how they design and plan instruction. This webinar will demonstrate how elementary educators can adapt and implement lessons in a distance learning environment to support English Learners and language development.

The following topics will be addressed in this session:

Secondary Educators: Communicating with Families of Newcomer English Learners During Distance Learning
View the recording and download the presentation slides
Communicating with families of newcomer English Learners in secondary grades has its own distinct challenges. Teens who are in the process of separating from their parents and establishing their own identities as adolescents in a new culture are particularly uncomfortable with the idea of parent engagement in schools. By drawing from Chapter 5 of the U.S. Department of Education's Newcomer Toolkit, presenters will offer practitioners ideas for how to keep parents, guardians, and other family members engaged in supporting their students' learning trajectory at home.

The following topics will be addressed in this session:

Effective Questioning in Grades K-2: The Development of Oral Language in a Distance Learning Environment
View the recording and download the presentation slides
Oral interactions promote the development of conceptual understandings and language proficiency. Ensuring young English Learners have multiple opportunities to practice language and discuss grade-level content is essential. In this webinar, teachers will learn effective questioning techniques that can be used to design activities for distance learning environments that promote text-based discussions.

The following topics will be addressed in this session:

Linking, Describing, and Critiquing in Secondary Mathematics: Supporting English Learners' Oral Language Development
View the recording and download the presentation slides
Language is at the center of students' development of mathematical understanding and engagement in mathematical practices. Oral language development and disciplinary discourse are indispensable for the development of knowledge and growth in language proficiency. In this webinar, secondary math teachers will learn how to design content-specific learning experiences that promote oral language development in distance learning environments.

The following topics will be addressed in this session:

Introduction to oral language development and its importance for English Learners

The importance of oracy in developing mathematical understanding

Continua for quality interactions

Activities and tools supporting student engagement in mathematical practices

Elementary Educators: Communicating with Families of English Learners During Distance Learning
View the recording and download the presentation slides
Maintaining regular communication with families of elementary students is critical in this time of distance learning. Elementary students need family support to be successful with home-based learning, and many families need guidance on how to best support their children at home. In this webinar, participants will learn how educators can communicate regularly with families of young English Learners to increase student success.

The following topics will be addressed in this session:

The need for home-school connections during distance learning

Challenges for home-school communication and learning support

Ideas and resources that aid in communicating with families and caregivers of English Learners

Recommendations and activities for families and caregivers of young English Learners

Supporting Secondary English Learners in the Social Studies Classroom in a Distance Learning Environment
View the recording and download the presentation slides
Structuring opportunities for students to participate in quality and sustained interactions, where they engage in rigorous back-and-forth discussions about a historical topic in a virtual environment, can present some challenges. One approach to help teachers make lessons more accessible to English Learners is integrating the use of carefully selected multimodal texts such as historical maps, photographs, and video into the design of lessons. This webinar will deepen teachers' understanding of the development of oral language for English Learners and provide some strategies that can be applied to distance learning environments.

The following topics will be addressed in this session:

Introduction to oral language development and its importance for English Learners

How to enable oral language development in a distance learning environment?

What resources support quality interactions for English Learners?

Using multimodal texts to invite interactions

Analyzing Text Themes in Grades 3-5: The Development of Oral Language in a Distance Learning Environment
View the recording and download the presentation slides
Oral interactions promote the development of conceptual understandings and language proficiency. Ensuring English Learners have multiple opportunities to practice language and discuss grade-level content is essential. In this webinar, upper elementary teachers learn how to support 3rd-5th grade students' oral language development by asking questions that promote student analysis of a text's key themes in distance learning environments.

The following topics will be addressed in this session:

How to Prepare Dual Language Elementary Students to Engage in Conversations Around Central Ideas with High-Quality Texts

Given the pervasive practice of engaging students with the text without building the field or inviting prior knowledge to make sense of it, a common design challenge faced by teachers of bilingual and emerging-bilingual students is how to structure invitations for students to engage their own experiences and knowledge to support the intellectual work of the lesson. This webinar will highlight the importance of surfacing students' prior experiences and activating their prior knowledge in dual-language classrooms.

The following topics will be addressed in this session:

Inviting students' prior experiences and knowledge: Why is it so important?

Student-centered activities to incorporate their prior knowledge and experiences: How can we do it?

How to Engage Dual Language Elementary Students with High-Quality Texts

This webinar will build from the webinar, How to Prepare Dual Language Elementary Students to Engage in Conversations Around Central Ideas with High-Quality Texts, and introduce dual-language educators to teaching and learning approaches and processes that support elementary students' abilities to access and engage in disciplinary literacy practices with high-quality, complex texts. Instruction designed to ensure high-quality interactions with texts allows students to develop metacognitive and metalinguistic practices while building and practicing their understanding of language.

The following topics will be addressed in this session:

The critical thinking and literacy practices needed to succeed in the 21st century

A research-based approach to meaningfully engaging elementary dual-language students with high-quality texts that lead to:

the development of metacognitive and metalinguistic practices;

deepened understandings of key concepts and themes within and across texts; and

support rich understandings of language

Supporting Secondary English Learners in the Science Classroom

Oral language development and disciplinary discourse are indispensable for the development of knowledge and growth in language proficiency. Drawing upon recent recommendations regarding evidence-based instructional practices, science teachers will learn about ideas and activities for developing an English Learner's oral language by interacting with peers and engaging in the learning and doing of science and engineering.

The following topics will be addressed in this session:

Introduction to oral language development and its importance for English Learners

Asking questions and defining problems

Analyzing and interpreting data

Engaging in argument from evidence

Facilitating Secondary ELA English Learners' Oral Language Development While Engaging in Distance Learning

Based on the premise that learning takes place through social interaction, participants of this webinar will consider the difficulties that distance learning presents for English Learners. Participants will receive tangible tools and processes for supporting oral interactions and language development of secondary English language arts students in distance learning environments that promote literacy development.

The following topics will be addressed in this session:

Introduction to oral language development and its importance for English Learners

Modeling of three ways to scaffold and support English Learners' oral language development in distance learning

View More Events

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Webinar Series: Supporting Multilingual and English Learner Students During Distance Learning

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This Event Has Ended. Find Links to Archived Webinar Recordings Below. Sponsored by the Region 15 Comprehensive Center at WestEd, in collaboration with the California Teachers Association and the California Department of Education, this webinar series addresses the ways educators can support multilingual and English Learner students in distance learning.

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Newcomer Toolkit, Chapter 5: Establishing Partnerships with Families

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Newcomer Toolkit, Chapter 5: Establishing Partnerships with Families

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U.S. Department of Education, Office of English Language Acquisition, 2016. This paper discusses assessment considerations for fall 2020, examines the implications for assessment design early in the 2020–21 school year, and provides scenarios for evaluating the implementation of different types of assessments.

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English Learner Toolkit, Chapter 10: Ensuring Meaningful Communication with Limited English Proficient Parents 

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English Learner Toolkit, Chapter 10: Ensuring Meaningful Communication with Limited English Proficient Parents 

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U.S. Department of Education, Office of English Language Acquisition, 2017. This toolkit helps state and local educational agencies meet their obligations to English learners.

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Guidance on Diagnostic and Formative Assessments

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Guidance on Diagnostic and Formative Assessments

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This CDE web page provides guidance on how LEAs can use California's approved assessments to evaluate where students are academically at the start of and throughout the school year.

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Get this page as a PDF: Guidance on Diagnostic and Formative Assessments (PDF)
Return to Stronger Together: A Guidebook for the Safe Reopening of California's Public Schools

Background

Due to the school closures resulting from the 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, state and federal testing requirements for summative assessments for English language arts/literacy, (ELA), mathematics, science, and English language proficiency were waived. Deep concerns about learning loss have triggered an urgency that district and school staff have in place useful diagnostic assessments that can identify where students are in their learning within key content areas when they return to school so teachers can teach them most effectively.

As we think about the need for diagnostic assessments to help teachers address the variability that students are likely to exhibit after very different learning experiences this spring, it is important to remember that each assessment is designed with a specific purpose. Researchers (Earl and Katz 2006) identify three primary purposes of assessments: assessment for learning, assessment as learning, and assessment of learning. Identifying the purpose of an assessment is important for ensuring its appropriate use. Experts note that formative assessments are for learning, while summative assessments are of learning. When assessments are performance-based-that is, when they ask students to show what they know and can do by actually doing certain tasks (e.g., writing an essay or designing an experiment)-they support the learning process. These are examples of assessments as learning, and they highlight the importance of the self-assessing and self-monitoring processes students use during learning, which have a high potential to engage students in fostering their own ongoing learning.

To measure learning progress over time, it is important that assessments be scaled across a multiyear continuum of learning that can evaluate how students are progressing in particular areas (e.g., word recognition and decoding, reading comprehension, understanding of ratio and proportion).

Summative assessments typically sample a wide range of information to produce an overall score that evaluates what has been learned, but they do not provide sufficiently detailed information to guide personalized teaching and learning. Furthermore, statewide summative assessments used for federal accountability purposes focus primarily on grade-level standards, which means they do not test skills above or below grade level; hence, they cannot accurately show where a student's understanding of a specific skill or concept is nor what the teacher should focus on to ensure successful student learning.

Diagnostic assessments are intended to help teachers identify what students know and can do in different domains to support their students' learning. These kinds of assessments may help teachers determine what students understand in order to build on the students' strengths and address their specific needs. Diagnostic and formative tools can guide curriculum planning and teaching in more specific ways than most summative assessments.

In addition to diagnostic assessments, teachers and students can use the formative assessment process to monitor and adjust learning together. Formative assessment practices provide feedback both to the teacher and the learner; the feedback is then used to adjust ongoing teaching and learning strategies to improve students' attainment of curricular learning targets or goals. The formative assessment process has four attributes:

Clarify: determine what students will learn and how they will know they have learned it.

Elicit: generate evidence of student learning, such as asking questions.

Interpret: review evidence to determine students' progress towards the learning goal(s).

Act: take instructional next steps to move students from where they are to where they need to be, such as reteaching using a different mode. (Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium 2009).

Examples of teachers in action, focusing on the four attributes, can be viewed in the Smarter Balanced video "Formative Assessment Practices to Support Student Learning." [https://www.teachingchannel.com/blog/assessment-practices]

Researchers have found that very large learning gains can occur when teachers: first, provide students with rich tasks that are well-supported; then, offer thoughtful feedback (comments, not grades) about what has been accomplished and what can be done next; and then, provide opportunities for immediate practice and revision using the feedback. These formative assessment opportunities focus both students and teachers on how to improve (Black and Wiliam 2010).

Resources for formative assessment are provided in each of California's curriculum frameworks, along with examples to assist teachers, coaches, site- and district-administrators, and counselors-for all subjects, including ELA, mathematics, and science. Teachers can use tools such as rubrics to clarify expectations and to provide feedback; journals, quick writes, and discussions to see what students are thinking; pre-tests and exit tickets to see where they are at the beginning and end of class; strategic questioning and performance tasks during the lesson; observations of students working in small groups; student work samples; and a variety of others.

Many of the diagnostic tools described later in this guidance offer lessons in which formative tools are embedded, accompanied by instructional guidance on how teachers might respond to various conceptions or misconceptions students appear to hold.

In evaluating their students' knowledge and performance, teachers should use multiple measures (Brookhart 2009) from district, school, and classroom assessments; narrative report cards; essays; class projects; and so forth. Multiple measures from various data sources should be used to determine where students are in their learning and identify areas in which they may need additional support.

In a return to school as complex as that anticipated this fall, teachers likely will want to use a variety of informal tools to assess student learning and performance-as well as their social-emotional well-being and home situation-in the first week or two of school and plan for a more formal diagnostic assessment after students have grown comfortable in the learning community and have gotten used to being "back at school."

Guidance for Using State Resources

This guidance describes how local educational agencies (LEAs) can use California's approved assessments to evaluate where students are academically at the start of and throughout the school year. At the state level, the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) and the English Language Proficiency Assessments for California (ELPAC) provide summative assessments for ELA, mathematics, science, and English language proficiency to meet state and federal requirements. The assessment programs also provide resources for teachers that are aligned with California standards to help teachers implement the formative assessment process during instruction and when sharing information with other educators, students, and parents. These assessment tools include the Smarter Balanced assessment system, developed by the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium, which is freely available to all public school districts, schools, and teachers in California.

The guidance also includes a number of additional tools approved for diagnostic assessment in grade two-all of which measure the state standards and have the capacity to assess student progress across a longer continuum of performance, typically covering the ELA and mathematics domains in K-8 or K-12.

Smarter Balanced Assessment System

In California, the Smarter Balanced assessment system provides assessments for, as, and of learning in an integrated manner. The system has three components:

Summative assessments, measuring grade-level standards for accountability purposes

Interim assessments, designed to support teaching and learning throughout the school year

Tools for Teachers, a website designed to support classroom-based formative assessment practices

All of these are designed to measure the Common Core State Standards and all include performance tasks as well as selected-response and open-ended response items.

Figure 1. Continuous Process of Instruction and Learning
Accessible version of Figure 1
Interim assessments and formative assessment tools are available throughout the year to all K-12 teachers in all LEAs, including charter schools. Educators at nonpublic schools who provide direct instruction to California public school students also are eligible to use these assessments.

The Smarter Balanced Interim Assessments are fixed-form (nonadaptive) tests designed to provide meaningful information for gauging student progress toward mastery of the skills measured by the summative assessments, but they also can be used to delve more deeply into particular domains and can be used at any point along the learning continuum. The interim assessments were developed for students in grades three through eight and high school, but may be administered to students at any grade level.

Although California Education Code ( EC) Section 60642.7(b) does not allow the results from the interim assessments to be used for any high-stakes purpose, LEAs may want to use the Interim Comprehensive Assessments for an overview of students' status on grade-level standards for their grade level during 2019-2020, and then follow up with groups of students in more specific domains that appear to need more reinforcement using the Interim Assessment Blocks, which provide more detailed information to guide teaching in particular areas (e.g., multiplying and dividing within 100). The interim assessments are described below:

Interim Comprehensive Assessment (ICAs) are built on the same blueprints as the summative assessments. The ICAs, typically 35 to 45 items in length, include the same item types and formats, including performance tasks, as the summative assessments, and yield results on the same vertical scales. The ICAs yield overall scale scores, overall performance level designations, and claim-level information.

[https://portal.smarterbalanced.org/library/en/ela-literacy-interim-comprehensive-assessment-blueprint.pdf]
[https://portal.smarterbalanced.org/library/en/mathematics-interim-comprehensive-assessment-blueprint.pdf]

Interim Assessment Blocks (IABs) focus on smaller sets of targets and, therefore, provide more detailed information for instructional purposes. Beginning with the 2019-2020 school year, a new type of IAB-called the focused IAB-became available. Focused IABs measure smaller bundles of content to give teachers a better understanding of students' knowledge and academic performance in specific areas and provide teachers with precise next steps for instruction. Teachers can assemble several focused IABs together to evaluate student learning in areas of concern.

[https://portal.smarterbalanced.org/library/en/english-language-artsliteracy-interim-assessment-blocks-fixed-form-blueprint.pdf]
[https://portal.smarterbalanced.org/library/en/math-interim-assessment-blocks-blueprint.pdf]
[https://portal.smarterbalanced.org/library/en/english-language-arts-literacy-focused-interim-assessment-blocks-blueprint.pdf]
[https://portal.smarterbalanced.org/library/en/mathematics-focused-interim-assessment-blocks.pdf]

More than 160 interim assessments are scheduled to be available August 20, 2020. Results from these assessments will be available electronically to educators within 20 minutes of administration once any necessary hand scoring has been completed. A school or district coordinator will need to create the student groups that allow teachers to access these results in the California Educator Reporting System.

Figure 2. ICAs, IABs, and Focused IABs
Accessible version of Figure 2

Tools for Teachers includes lessons and activities with interactive Connections Playlists that can be used with interim assessments, high-quality resources aligned with learning standards, formative assessment strategies embedded in each resource, and accessibility strategies. Teachers also can use formative assessment tools and teaching supports from Tools for Teachers. These instructional resources-including lessons and activities, recommended materials, and in-process assessments that can guide teaching strategies-are linked to the same standards as those for the interim and summative assessments.

Related Resources

Interim Assessment Video Series [https://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/tg/sa/iavideoseries.asp]
This series consists of five video modules developed to help educators effectively use the interim assessment systems and tools that are needed to select, administer, hand score, and view and use results from the Smarter Balanced Interim Assessments.

Interim Assessments by Grade (PDF) [https://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/tg/sa/documents/sbiasbygrade.pdf]
This document provides a list of all interim assessments available by grade, including the claims and targets, total number of items, and number of items that are hand scored. This information is provided to assist LEAs in planning for the administration and local hand scoring of the interim assessments.

[https://portal.smarterbalanced.org/library/en/interim-assessments-overview.pdf]
This document describes the interim assessments, including their purpose, use, and varieties. For each grade and subject, this document provides a list of interim assessments available for the 2019-2020 school year.

Smarter Content Explorer [https://contentexplorer.smarterbalanced.org/]
This user-friendly web tool combines the information provided in the Smarter Balanced Content and Item Specifications-key resources used in test and item development-into an easy-to-use search interface. This tool can help teachers better understand how test questions are designed to provide evidence of what students know and can do.

Tools for Teachers [https://www.smartertoolsforteachers.org/]
This website includes standards-based lessons, activities, materials, and formative assessments for each domain of the Common Core State Standards.

Smarter Balanced Remote Teaching and Learning [https://remote.smartertoolsforteachers.org/]
This new website provides suggestions for how teachers can use Smarter Balanced assessment resources when engaged in remote instruction.

Practice and Training Tests

Furthermore, teachers and students can use the CAASPP and the ELPAC practice and training tests in formative ways during instruction. These tests provide them with the opportunity to become familiar with the testing software before interim or summative assessments are administered. They also allow students to access and respond to the different types of questions they will encounter on the tests. Practice and training tests are available for the following:

Smarter Balanced ELA

Smarter Balanced Mathematics

California Science Test

California Alternate Assessment (CAA) for ELA

CAA for Mathematics

CAA for Science

California Spanish Assessment

ELPAC

For practice or training resources, visit the CAASPP Online Practice and Training Tests Portal [http://www.caaspp.org/practice-and-training/] or the ELPAC Practice and Training Tests web page [https://www.elpac.org/resources/online-practice-and-training-test/]. Guides for the administration of the CAASPP and ELPAC practice and training tests are available on the Department of Education (CDE) Quick Reference Guides web page [https://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/tg/ca/caasppqrg.asp].

Other Diagnostic Tools

The CDE has approved a set of assessments for diagnostic testing in ELA and mathematics that meet the requirements of EC Section 60644. These assessments have been identified as aligned with the Common Core State Standards and can be used for tracking learning progress and for guiding instruction mapped to student needs. They are listed and described on the CDE website (refer to the Grade Two Diagnostic Assessments web page [https://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/tg/da/]) as well as in table 1, below. (We note that other publishers have inquired about adding their resources to this list; however, funding is no longer available for vetting additional grade two diagnostic assessments.) LEAs can certify to the CDE the number of students in grade two who are administered these assessments pursuant to EC Section 60644 for the purpose of determining apportionment funding as set by the California State Board of Education annually.

These assessments were initially evaluated for grade two diagnostic testing, but all are scaled assessments that show how students are progressing along a continuum that extends across grade levels and can be used over multiple school years to inform instruction. LEAs that already use one of these assessments can examine student progress over time from prior years to the present and into the coming year(s).

Table 1. CDE-Approved Diagnostic Assessments

Can be used multiple times per year. Assessments, which include performance tasks, can be used as designed, or can be modified by teachers to address specific standards. Assessments are accompanied by instructional resources, which are recommended for each student in a personalized playlist that includes interactive projects and exercises, based on how students perform. Teachers can also create performance tasks using the task and rubric creation tool.

Developmental Reading Assessment

K-8 ELA
Reading and Writing

In English and Spanish

Typically used several times each year. Individually administered assessment that allows teachers to determine each student's independent and instructional reading level by evaluating oral reading fluency, and comprehension. The diagnostic DRA Word Analysis assessment provides additional information on how struggling and emerging readers attend to and work with various components of spoken and written words. The resulting plan documents what each student needs to learn next and enables teachers to differentiate instruction and select books at the appropriate level.

Typically used several times a year. Assessments are designed for CCSS math and reading standards. Math, vocabulary and reading comprehension assessments are administered online; other measures (letter names, letter sounds, phoneme segmentation, word and passage reading fluency) are administered individually.

A suite of computer-based assessments is designed to provide a complete picture of student performance and growth across math and ELA. The suite includes diagnostic and standards mastery assessments, dyslexia screening, and oral reading fluency assessments that can be used coherently to monitor and support student progress. Reports include information about how to interpret both overall scores and growth as well as performance on individual items, highlighting what each student needs to learn next. Results from the are connected to personalized learning pathways and accompanying teacher resources.

Growth: an interim assessment designed to be administered up to 3 times per year to provide benchmarking and growth information.

Reading Fluency: an assessment of oral reading fluency, foundational skills, and reading comprehension for grades K-3.

Skills: designed to be used as often as needed to provide progress monitoring information in between administrations of MAP growth.

mCLASS reading 3D assessments are a suite of screening and progress monitoring measures that focus on comprehension and meaning making. These assessments are individually administered using leveled readers from a book set and completing a series of performance tasks that may include responding to oral comprehension questions, completing a retell, and/or writing responses to comprehension questions. Student scores are connected to developmental progressions and research-based benchmarks. mCLASS math assessments combine screening and progress-monitoring with guided diagnostic interviews to uncover mathematical reasoning and skills. Assessments can be administered one-to-one or through written benchmark assessments, and the results of both assessments and diagnostic reviews are reported as diagnostic profiles with suggested instructional activities.

Computer adaptive diagnostic testing. Questions are multiple-choice, and student reports include ranking relative to national percentiles, grade-level estimates, and placement of student performance into performance bands. Teachers can connect student performance to customized learning plans that are related to CCSS learning goals.

Interim assessments can be administered as pre- and post-tests to monitor learning before and after instruction. All items are selected response, either stand-alone (math and language) or paired with passages (reading). Student performance is reported through proficiency scores.

*In addition to the resources listed above, many California districts participate in the [https://www.map.mathshell.org/ Mathematics Assessment Project (MAP) ], which offers an extensive sequence of formative assessment lessons and rich summative performance tasks to support the Common Core State Standards. Sponsored by the Mathematics Assessment Resource Service (MARS) [https://www.mathshell.org/ba_mars.htm] at the University of California at Berkeley, MAP works with states and networks of districts, including the Silicon Valley Mathematics Initiative, on the design and implementation of performance assessments and on professional development for designers and teachers. Many of the tasks designed by MARS as part of its Balanced Assessment in Mathematics (BAM) have been incorporated into the Acuity materials described above.

References

Black, P., and D. Wiliam. 2010. "Inside the Black Box: Raising Standards Through Classroom Assessment." Phi Delta Kappan 92 (1): 81-90. DOI: 10.1177/003172171009200119.

Brookhart, S. M. 2009. "The Many Meanings of 'Multiple Measures.'" Educational Leadership, 67 (3): 6-12.
Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/nov09/vol67/num03/The-Many-Meanings-of-%C2%A3Multiple-Measures%C2%A3.aspx

Earl, L., and S. Katz. 2006. "Rethinking Classroom Assessment with Purpose in Mind." Winnipeg, Manitoba: Western Northern Canadian Protocol. https://www.edu.gov.mb.ca/k12/assess/wncp/full_doc.pdf (accessed June 15, 2020).

Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium. 2009. Understanding the Formative Assessment Process. https://portal.smarterbalanced.org/library/en/formative-assessment-process.pdf (accessed June 22, 2020).

Accessibility Appendix

Accessible Version of Figure 1. Continuous Process of Instruction and Learning

Image from the Smarter Blanced Assessment Consortium that demonstrates a smarter assessment system, which includes a continuous process of instruction and learning. State standards lead to college and career readiness. Resources and data to support teaching and learning are provided by three integrated components: summative assessments, interim assessments, and instructional supports (tools for teachers).
Back to Content After Figure 1
Accessible Version of Figure 2. ICAs, IABs, and Focused IABs

Interim Assessments at a Glance

Interim Comprehensive Assessments

Image of a three by three by three cube with all parts filled.

Assess the same targets as the summative. Examples:

Current Interim Assessment Blocks

Image of a three by three by three cube, with a two by two by two cube portion filled.

Assess 1-8 targets in math and ELA/literacy. Examples:

Grade 3 ELA, Reading Literacy Texts

Grade 3 Math, Operations and Algebraic Thinking

Focused Interim Assessment Blocks

Image of a three by three by three cube with a two by one by one portion filled. The two by one by one filled portion is within the portion that had been a two by two by two portion.

Assess 1-3 targets in math and ELA/literacy. Examples:

Grade 3 ELA, Reading Literacy Texts: Text Analysis

Grade 3 Math: Multiply and Divide within 100

Back to Content After Figure 2
Last Reviewed: Friday, August 28, 2020

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Guidance on Diagnostic and Formative Assessments

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Get this page as a PDF: Guidance on Diagnostic and Formative Assessments (PDF) Return to Stronger Together: A Guidebook for the Safe Reopening of California's Public Schools Due to the school closures resulting from the 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, state and federal testing requirements for summative assessments for English language arts/literacy, (ELA), mathematics, science, and English language proficiency were waived.

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Webinar Series: Supporting Multilingual and English Learner Students During Distance Learning

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Webinar Series: Supporting Multilingual and English Learner Students During Distance Learning

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(Region 15 Comprehensive Center, the California Teachers Association, and the California Department of Education, 2020).
This CDE web page provides guidance on how LEAs can use California's approved assessments to evaluate where students are academically at the start of and throughout the school year.

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Sponsored by the Region 15 Comprehensive Center at WestEd, in collaboration with the California Teachers Association and the California Department of Education, this webinar series addresses the ways educators can support multilingual and English Learner students in distance learning.

How to Support Young English Learners at Home with Language and Literacy Development
View the recording and download the presentation slides
Language and literacy are critical for young students to develop in the first few years of school. Now that schools are operating in distance learning environments, it is essential to involve families in supporting language and literacy development at home. In this webinar, teachers, coaches, and administrators will receive guidance, resources, and activities that can be shared with families and caregivers to strengthen language and literacy development with English Learners at home.

The following topics will be addressed in this session:

Lesson Planning for English Learners in Distance Learning Environments: Secondary Educators
View the recording and download the presentation slides
Distance learning experiences that promote conceptual and linguistic development for English Learners require a shift in teacher expertise and instructional design. This webinar will demonstrate how secondary educators can adapt and implement lessons in a distance learning environment that promote rigor and high levels of support. Participants will learn how to plan appropriate scaffolds for students engaging with subject-matter content in synchronous, asynchronous, and no-tech environments.

The following topics will be addressed in this session:

Lesson Planning for English Learners in Distance Learning Environments: Elementary Educators
View the recording and download the presentation slides
Engaging elementary students in distance learning has particular challenges. Ensuring age-appropriate learning experiences that couple high challenges with high supports and promote language development requires teachers to shift how they design and plan instruction. This webinar will demonstrate how elementary educators can adapt and implement lessons in a distance learning environment to support English Learners and language development.

The following topics will be addressed in this session:

Secondary Educators: Communicating with Families of Newcomer English Learners During Distance Learning
View the recording and download the presentation slides
Communicating with families of newcomer English Learners in secondary grades has its own distinct challenges. Teens who are in the process of separating from their parents and establishing their own identities as adolescents in a new culture are particularly uncomfortable with the idea of parent engagement in schools. By drawing from Chapter 5 of the U.S. Department of Education's Newcomer Toolkit, presenters will offer practitioners ideas for how to keep parents, guardians, and other family members engaged in supporting their students' learning trajectory at home.

The following topics will be addressed in this session:

Effective Questioning in Grades K-2: The Development of Oral Language in a Distance Learning Environment
View the recording and download the presentation slides
Oral interactions promote the development of conceptual understandings and language proficiency. Ensuring young English Learners have multiple opportunities to practice language and discuss grade-level content is essential. In this webinar, teachers will learn effective questioning techniques that can be used to design activities for distance learning environments that promote text-based discussions.

The following topics will be addressed in this session:

Linking, Describing, and Critiquing in Secondary Mathematics: Supporting English Learners' Oral Language Development
View the recording and download the presentation slides
Language is at the center of students' development of mathematical understanding and engagement in mathematical practices. Oral language development and disciplinary discourse are indispensable for the development of knowledge and growth in language proficiency. In this webinar, secondary math teachers will learn how to design content-specific learning experiences that promote oral language development in distance learning environments.

The following topics will be addressed in this session:

Introduction to oral language development and its importance for English Learners

The importance of oracy in developing mathematical understanding

Continua for quality interactions

Activities and tools supporting student engagement in mathematical practices

Elementary Educators: Communicating with Families of English Learners During Distance Learning
View the recording and download the presentation slides
Maintaining regular communication with families of elementary students is critical in this time of distance learning. Elementary students need family support to be successful with home-based learning, and many families need guidance on how to best support their children at home. In this webinar, participants will learn how educators can communicate regularly with families of young English Learners to increase student success.

The following topics will be addressed in this session:

The need for home-school connections during distance learning

Challenges for home-school communication and learning support

Ideas and resources that aid in communicating with families and caregivers of English Learners

Recommendations and activities for families and caregivers of young English Learners

Supporting Secondary English Learners in the Social Studies Classroom in a Distance Learning Environment
View the recording and download the presentation slides
Structuring opportunities for students to participate in quality and sustained interactions, where they engage in rigorous back-and-forth discussions about a historical topic in a virtual environment, can present some challenges. One approach to help teachers make lessons more accessible to English Learners is integrating the use of carefully selected multimodal texts such as historical maps, photographs, and video into the design of lessons. This webinar will deepen teachers' understanding of the development of oral language for English Learners and provide some strategies that can be applied to distance learning environments.

The following topics will be addressed in this session:

Introduction to oral language development and its importance for English Learners

How to enable oral language development in a distance learning environment?

What resources support quality interactions for English Learners?

Using multimodal texts to invite interactions

Analyzing Text Themes in Grades 3-5: The Development of Oral Language in a Distance Learning Environment
View the recording and download the presentation slides
Oral interactions promote the development of conceptual understandings and language proficiency. Ensuring English Learners have multiple opportunities to practice language and discuss grade-level content is essential. In this webinar, upper elementary teachers learn how to support 3rd-5th grade students' oral language development by asking questions that promote student analysis of a text's key themes in distance learning environments.

The following topics will be addressed in this session:

How to Prepare Dual Language Elementary Students to Engage in Conversations Around Central Ideas with High-Quality Texts

Given the pervasive practice of engaging students with the text without building the field or inviting prior knowledge to make sense of it, a common design challenge faced by teachers of bilingual and emerging-bilingual students is how to structure invitations for students to engage their own experiences and knowledge to support the intellectual work of the lesson. This webinar will highlight the importance of surfacing students' prior experiences and activating their prior knowledge in dual-language classrooms.

The following topics will be addressed in this session:

Inviting students' prior experiences and knowledge: Why is it so important?

Student-centered activities to incorporate their prior knowledge and experiences: How can we do it?

How to Engage Dual Language Elementary Students with High-Quality Texts

This webinar will build from the webinar, How to Prepare Dual Language Elementary Students to Engage in Conversations Around Central Ideas with High-Quality Texts, and introduce dual-language educators to teaching and learning approaches and processes that support elementary students' abilities to access and engage in disciplinary literacy practices with high-quality, complex texts. Instruction designed to ensure high-quality interactions with texts allows students to develop metacognitive and metalinguistic practices while building and practicing their understanding of language.

The following topics will be addressed in this session:

The critical thinking and literacy practices needed to succeed in the 21st century

A research-based approach to meaningfully engaging elementary dual-language students with high-quality texts that lead to:

the development of metacognitive and metalinguistic practices;

deepened understandings of key concepts and themes within and across texts; and

support rich understandings of language

Supporting Secondary English Learners in the Science Classroom

Oral language development and disciplinary discourse are indispensable for the development of knowledge and growth in language proficiency. Drawing upon recent recommendations regarding evidence-based instructional practices, science teachers will learn about ideas and activities for developing an English Learner's oral language by interacting with peers and engaging in the learning and doing of science and engineering.

The following topics will be addressed in this session:

Introduction to oral language development and its importance for English Learners

Asking questions and defining problems

Analyzing and interpreting data

Engaging in argument from evidence

Facilitating Secondary ELA English Learners' Oral Language Development While Engaging in Distance Learning

Based on the premise that learning takes place through social interaction, participants of this webinar will consider the difficulties that distance learning presents for English Learners. Participants will receive tangible tools and processes for supporting oral interactions and language development of secondary English language arts students in distance learning environments that promote literacy development.

The following topics will be addressed in this session:

Introduction to oral language development and its importance for English Learners

Modeling of three ways to scaffold and support English Learners' oral language development in distance learning

View More Events

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Webinar Series: Supporting Multilingual and English Learner Students During Distance Learning

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This Event Has Ended. Find Links to Archived Webinar Recordings Below. Sponsored by the Region 15 Comprehensive Center at WestEd, in collaboration with the California Teachers Association and the California Department of Education, this webinar series addresses the ways educators can support multilingual and English Learner students in distance learning.

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Discerning and Fostering – What English Learners Can Do With Language 

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Discerning and Fostering – What English Learners Can Do With Language 

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(Molle, Linquanti, MacDonald & Cook, 2016).This guidance covers gathering and interpreting complementary evidence of classroom language uses for reclassification decisions.

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RESTART & RECOVERY: Assessment Considerations for Fall 2020

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RESTART & RECOVERY: Assessment Considerations for Fall 2020

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(Marion et al., 2020)
This paper discusses assessment considerations for fall 2020, focusing on specific use-cases associated with key education stakeholders.

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Addressing Unfinished Learning After COVID-19 School Closures 

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Addressing Unfinished Learning After COVID-19 School Closures 

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(Council of the Great City Schools, 2020)This resource presents an instructional framework for addressing unfinished learning and learning losses.

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The English Language Proficiency Assessments for California (ELPAC) website serves as the portal for resources that a local educational agency (LEA) will need to administer the ELPAC and the Alternate ELPAC.

News and Tips for the ELPAC Administration

CAST and ELPAC Interim Assessments Now Available to Administer

The CAST and ELPAC Interim Assessments are now available to administer in the test delivery system. Visit the CAASPP Interim Assessment Administration Resources web page, the ELPAC Interim Assessment Administration Resources web page, and the Interim Assessment User Guide for more information.

2023-24 California Assessment Accessibility Matrix Now Available

The California Assessment Accessibility Resources Matrix has been updated for 2023-24 and can be accessed from the Accessibility Resources web page.

October 4 Deadline: CBEDS Reminder

For newly enrolled students to be included in the 2023-24 Unduplicated Pupil Count used to determine funding for the supplemental and concentration grants under the Local Control Funding Formula, students must complete the entire Initial ELPAC (all four domains) or the Initial Alternate ELPAC on or before Census Day, which is October 4, 2023. For more information regarding Census Day, visit the California Basic Educational Data System (CBEDS) website.

ELPAC Administration for Transitional Kindergarten Students

For 2023-24, LEAs are required to administer the Initial ELPAC or Initial Alternate ELPAC to all eligible students enrolled in kindergarten-including students in transitional kindergarten (TK), which is defined as year one of a two-year kindergarten program. LEAs will continue to follow the same process for identifying potential EL students and annually assessing EL students.

Initial ELPAC RSVP Must Use Scannable K-2 Answer Books

LEAs that are selected for RSVP, must use scannable K-2 Answer Books. LEAs that are part of RSVP cannot use answer books from previous years. View the list of LEAs that are participating in 2023-24 on the Rotating Score Validation Process for the Initial ELPAC Web page.

Useful Reference Guides

The Pause Rules Guide and the Expiration Rules Guide were updated and can be found on the Videos and Quick Reference Guides web page.

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english language proficiency assessments for california

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The English Language Proficiency Assessments for California (ELPAC) Web site serves as the portal for resources that a local educational agency will need to administer the ELPAC.

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CDE English Language Proficiency Assessments for California (ELPAC) Web Page

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CDE English Language Proficiency Assessments for California (ELPAC) Web Page

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Program Overview

The English Language Proficiency Assessments for California (ELPAC) is the required state test for English language proficiency (ELP) that must be given to students whose primary language is a language other than English. State and federal law require that local educational agencies administer a state test of ELP to eligible students in kindergarten through grade twelve. The California Department of Education (CDE) transitioned from the California English Language Development Test (CELDT) to the ELPAC as the state ELP assessment in 2018. The ELPAC is aligned with the 2012 California English Language Development Standards. It consists of two separate ELP assessments: one for the initial identification of students as English learners (ELs), and a second for the annual summative assessment to measure a student's progress in learning English and to identify the student's level of ELP.

The following links provide additional information about the program:

ELPAC - CalEdFacts web page provides a more detailed overview of the test.

California Assessment Timeline (PDF) presents the assessment administration timeline for the 2020-21, 2021-22, and 2022-23 school years.

Assessment System Chart (PDF) lists the tests of the 2020-21 California assessment system by subject content, test name, test type, student participant groups, grade levels, and testing window timeframe.

Assessment Spotlight web page contains archives of all previous Assessment Spotlight emails. Send a blank email to subscribe-caaspp@mlist.cde.ca.gov to receive regular updates on the latest information about the statewide assessment system.

Assessments

Resources and Communication Materials
2020-21 ELPAC Information Guide (PDF) Talking to Parents About the ELPAC (PPTX; 3MB) Charla con los padres acerca de las ELPAC (PPTX; 15MB) ELPAC Resources for Parents Quick Reference Guides Practice test flyer (PDF) Talking to Educators About the ELPAC (PPTX; 13MB) 2020-2021 COVID-19 Guidance for Reclassification (PDF)
English-Spanish Education and Assessment Glossary
Translation glossary for assessment-related communications prepared by the CDE.

Accessibility Resources

Matching Accessibility Resources to Student Needs Virtual Training
A virtual training designed to provide educators with an understanding of the importance of accessibility resources, the categories of accessibility resources, and the process for matching students with appropriate accessibility resources for daily instruction and on assessments.

California Assessment Assessibility Resources Matrix
The matrix displays the embedded and non-embedded universal tools, designated supports, and accommodations (UDAs) allowed as part of the CAASPP and ELPAC for 2020-21. Also used in conjunction with the English Language Proficiency Assessments for California Accessibility for Operational Testing (DOCX) .
ELPAC Administration Student Accessibility Checklist (PDF) ELPAC Administration Guidance and Governing Definitions for Student Accessibility Discussions (PDF)
Test Administration
ELPAC Administration Research Files Test Administration Coordination website
Scores and Results Reporting
ELPAC Results website
Starting Smarter
Now families have a new website for resources to support their child's learning. The Starting Smarter website includes information on student score reports, sample test questions, parent-teacher conferences, and other no-cost resources in English and Spanish.

Technical Documents

Questions: English Language Proficiency and Spanish Assessments Office | elpac@cde.ca.gov | 916-319-0784

Last Reviewed: Wednesday, December 23, 2020

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English Language Proficiency Assessments for California (ELPAC)

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The English Language Proficiency Assessments for California (ELPAC) is the required state test for English language proficiency (ELP) that must be given to students whose primary language is a language other than English. State and federal law require that local educational agencies administer a state test of ELP to eligible students in kindergarten through grade twelve.

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Framing Questions for Lesson Planning: ELs with Disabilities

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Framing Questions for Lesson Planning: ELs with Disabilities

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Figure 7.9-  California Practitioners' Guide for Educating ELs with Disabilities

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Appendix 3.2- California Practitioners' Guide for Educating ELs with Disabilities

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Individual Student Assessment Accessibility Profile - Same website for ELPAC and CAASPP

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Individual Student Assessment Accessibility Profile

The web based ISAAP Tool is one piece of the process in ensuring that each student receives the accessibility resources necessary in order to provide for fair and valid testing. The ISAAP Tool can be used to identify accessibility resources for both the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) summative and interim assessments as well as the English Language Proficiency Assessments for California (ELPAC). The ISAAP Tool can also generate a file to be uploaded to TOMS in assigning test settings for groups of students prior to testing. The ISAAP Tool should be used in conjunction with the California Assessment Accessibility Resources Matrix (DOCX) available on the CA Assessment Accessibility Resources Matrix web page. Learn more about the ISAAP Process.

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Individual Student Assessment Accessibility Profile The web based ISAAP Tool is one piece of the process in ensuring that each student receives the accessibility resources necessary in order to provide for fair and valid testing.

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Individual Student Assessment Accessibility Profile - Same website for ELPAC and CAASPP

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Individual Student Assessment Accessibility Profile

The web based ISAAP Tool is one piece of the process in ensuring that each student receives the accessibility resources necessary in order to provide for fair and valid testing. The ISAAP Tool can be used to identify accessibility resources for both the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) summative and interim assessments as well as the English Language Proficiency Assessments for California (ELPAC). The ISAAP Tool can also generate a file to be uploaded to TOMS in assigning test settings for groups of students prior to testing. The ISAAP Tool should be used in conjunction with the California Assessment Accessibility Resources Matrix (DOCX) available on the CA Assessment Accessibility Resources Matrix web page. Learn more about the ISAAP Process.

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Individual Student Assessment Accessibility Profile The web based ISAAP Tool is one piece of the process in ensuring that each student receives the accessibility resources necessary in order to provide for fair and valid testing.

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Enhancing Instruction with CAASPP Use of Accessibility Tools in the Classroom

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Enhancing Instruction with CAASPP Use of Accessibility Tools in the Classroom

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Professional Development Module

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Enhancing Instruction with CAASPP - Use of Accessibility Tools in the Classroom

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English Language Proficiency Assessment of English Learners with Significant Cognitive Disabilities

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English Language Proficiency Assessment of English Learners with Significant Cognitive Disabilities

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Professional Development Module

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English Language Proficiency Assessment of English Learners with Significant Cognitive Disabilities

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Chapter 5-Developing an Individualized Education Program for English Learners

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Chapter 5-Developing an Individualized Education Program for English Learners

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What are the reclassification criteria set forth in California Education Code?

The reclassification criteria set forth in California Education Code (EC) Section 313 and Title 5 California Code of Regulations (5 CCR) section 11303, remain unchanged. Local educational agencies (LEAs) should continue using the following four criteria to establish reclassification policies and procedures:

Assessment of English language proficiency (ELP), using an objective assessment instrument, including, but not limited to, the state test of English Language Proficiency Assessments for California (ELPAC); and

Teacher evaluation, including, but not limited to, a review of the student's curriculum mastery; and

Parent opinion and consultation; and

Comparison of student performance in basic skills against an empirically established range of performance in basic skills of English proficient students of the same age.

Are any of these criteria standardized across California?

Yes. The State Board of Education (SBE) approved the use of ELPAC Overall Performance Level (PL) 4 as the statewide standardized ELP criterion for reclassification beginning with the 2018-19 Summative ELPAC administration for grades K-12 (see Criterion 1 above).

Which reclassification criteria remain locally determined?

Which Summative ELPAC threshold scores should LEAs use?

LEAs should use the Summative ELPAC Scale Score Ranges (PDF) approved by the SBE in November 2018. These are available on the CDE ELPAC web page, to determine level designation for English language proficiency. The Summative ELPAC Scale Score Ranges are identified for each grade level for (K-8) and by grade span for grades 9-10 and 11-12.

Do all of the reclassification criteria apply to all grades K-12? Do they apply to students with exceptional needs?

Yes, the reclassification criteria apply to all English learners in grades K-12, including students with exceptional needs. For further information, please see page 24 of the 2019-20 ELPAC Information Guide (PDF) .

Does a student have to score an Overall PL 4 to be considered for reclassification?

Yes. If a student will be taking the Summative ELPAC during the 2018-19 administration or later, then that student must score an Overall PL 4. The SBE approved the use of the ELPAC Overall PL 4 as the statewide standardized ELP criterion (see Criterion 1 above) for reclassification on January 9, 2019.

If listening, speaking, reading, or writing domain scores are less than four but meet an average Overall PL 4, can those students still be reclassified?

Yes. Those students can still be reclassified. Only ELPAC Overall PL 4 was approved as the statewide standardized ELP criterion. Thresholds for the individual domains were not approved.

When can assessment of students, particularly those who have taken the Summative ELPAC for reclassification purposes, be reported in the California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS)?

Whether using the paper-pencil or computer-based initial ELPAC (for 2019-20 or 2020-2021) results to identify an English learner or the Summative ELPAC (for 2018-19 or 2019-20) results to reclassify a student, updates to a student's English Language Acquisition Status (ELAS) can be reported in CALPADS as long as the following conditions have been met:

Students enrolled on or before October 7, 2020 (Census Day), assessed by November 13, 2020 with the Initial ELPAC, and identified as EL student or initial fluent English proficient (IFEP) student will be entered into California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS) automatically from Test Operations Management System as EL or IFEP.

Students administered the 2019-2020 Summative ELPAC by October 30, 2020, with Overall PL 4 who meet the three locally-determined criteria should complete the process of reclassification. Local educational agency staff must update CALPADS with a reclassified fluent English proficient (RFEP) status before February 1, 2021, which is the start of the 2020-2021 Summative ELPAC administration. This will ensure that these students will not be required to take the Summative ELPAC in spring 2021. If the RFEP date is on or before Census Day, the student will be included in the 2019-2020 RFEP count. If RFEP date is after Census Day, the student will be included in the 2020-2021 RFEP count.

Students enrolled on Census Day, who met Overall Level 4 on the 2018-2019 Summative ELPAC and the remaining three locally-determined criteria, are eligible to be reclassified on or before December 15, 2020.The RFEP date must be entered into CALPADS as on or before Census Day to be included in the 2019-2020 RFEP count.

Are LEAs required to present the district reclassification policy to the District English Learner Advisory Committee (DELAC)?

Yes, LEAs are required to present the reclassification policy to the DELAC in order to solicit advice on reclassification procedures. The DELAC shall review and comment on the school district reclassification procedures, pursuant to 5 CCR, 11308 (c)(6) (Advisory Committees). For further information, please visit the CDE DELAC web page.

Questions: Language Policy and Leadership Office | 916-319-0845

Last Reviewed: Monday, August 3, 2020

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What are the reclassification criteria set forth in California Education Code? The reclassification criteria set forth in California Education Code (EC) Section 313 and Title 5 California Code of Regulations (5 CCR) section 11303, remain unchanged.

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Reclassification Criteria

The reclassification criteria set forth in California EC Section 313 and 5 CCR Section 11303 remain unchanged. LEAs should continue using the following four criteria to establish reclassification policies and procedures:

Criterion 1: Assessment of English Language Proficiency

Assessment of language proficiency using an objective assessment instrument, including, but not limited to, the English language development test that is developed pursuant to EC Section 60810 :

The English Language Proficiency Assessments for California (ELPAC) constitute the required state assessments for English language proficiency (ELP) administered to students whose primary language is a language other than English. With the possible exception of students with unique needs or who are dually identified, EL students who do not have either a Summative ELPAC or Summative Alternate ELPAC score are not eligible to be reclassified, even if they have met other locally-determined criteria.

The Summative ELPAC Overall Performance Level (PL) 4 was approved by the State Board of Education (SBE) as the statewide standardized ELP criterion for the Summative ELPAC. LEAs shall use ELPAC Overall PL 4 to determine whether a student assessed with the Summative ELPAC has met that criterion.

Students who score at Summative ELPAC Overall PL 4 should be considered for reclassification.

Students who score at Summative ELPAC Overall PL 3 or lower should not be considered for reclassification. However, LEAs are encouraged to convene interest holders for a larger conversation to inform planning, placement, and personal goals for the short term and the next school year. These convenings should include parents, whenever possible, and focus on strengths, growth areas, and opportunities for the student.

Some EL students with unique needs, or dually-identified students, may need specific considerations for how this criterion is met as described in the student's individualized education plan (IEP). In such instances, members of the student's IEP team should confer to document and discuss how the student's unique needs affect their ability to obtain an Overall PL 4.

The Summative Alternate ELPAC is the state test for ELP for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities. LEAs shall use Summative Alternate ELPAC Overall PL 3 (Fluent English Proficient) as the Alternate ELP criterion.
All students with a Summative Alternate ELPAC Overall PL 3 (Fluent English Proficient) are eligible to be considered for reclassification in conjunction with the other three locally determined required reclassification criteria.

Resources to Support Criterion 1

Criterion 2: Teacher Evaluations

Teacher evaluations, including, but not limited to, a review of the pupil's curriculum mastery:

This criterion remains locally determined and LEAs should continue using teacher evaluations per local policy to establish reclassification policies and procedures for Criterion 2. Teacher evaluation is not to be interpreted as teacher opinion and should be based on data as well as the LEA's locally-established process for soliciting teacher evaluation.

For students who score at ELPAC Overall PL 4 or Summative Alternate ELPAC Overall PL 3 (Fluent English Proficient), LEAs should establish a local policy and process to collect feedback on an eligible student's mastery of the curriculum provided by that student's teachers (See Resources to Support Criterion 2).
Because the student may have different language support needs across different subject areas, all teachers and certificated staff with direct responsibility for teaching or placement decisions of the student should be afforded the opportunity to evaluate.

If other reclassification criteria suggest that a student who scored at Summative ELPAC Overall PL 4 or Summative Alternate ELPAC Overall PL 3 (Fluent English Proficient) has learning deficits in other areas, decision-makers are encouraged to discuss these results with those who know the student (e.g., classroom teachers, parents, instructional specialists or coaches) to identify needed services and supports, so as not to preclude a student with unique needs from demonstrating readiness for reclassification.
Please note: Deficits in academic success, although currently unrelated to ELP, may indicate a student has incurred a deficit while learning English. Although this situation does not preclude a student from reclassification, the LEA is obligated to ensure the student is provided ongoing academic support, and any other necessary support, designed to recuperate and remedy any such deficits before reclassification, during the four-year RFEP monitoring period or beyond, until the deficits are remedied.

The CDE is in the process of developing a standardized resource for this criterion. The Observation Protocol for Teachers of English Learners (OPTEL) is an observation protocol currently under development to meet the requirements of EC Section 313.3 .

Resources to Support Criterion 2

Criterion 3: Parent Consultation

Parental opinion and consultation:

This criterion remains locally determined and LEAs should continue using parental opinion and consultation per local policy to establish reclassification procedures for connecting with EL families to answer questions, discuss student performance on each criterion (Criteria 1-4), and set goals for the next school year. Parental consultation and opinion, not consent, is required per EC Section 313 (f)(3). 5 CCR Section 11303 mandates parental involvement through encouragement of the participation of parent(s) or guardian(s) in the school district's reclassification procedure, including seeking their opinion and consultation during the reclassification process, but consent is not required.

For students who score at Summative ELPAC Overall PL 4 or Summative Alternate ELPAC Overall PL 3 (Fluent English Proficient), LEAs are encouraged to convene interested parties (including the student's current teachers, teachers from the previous school year, and relevant academic coordinators) to discuss the eligible student's performance and recommend goals for the next school year.
These consultations should lead to a reclassification discussion, held prior to decisions, that includes parents and yield collaboratively developed ideas, plans, and decisions for any change in classification as well as support to be provided during the four-year RFEP monitoring period.

Access issues should not be a justification for failing to connect with parents. LEAs can think strategically about connecting with parents, including through alternative means (e.g., direct phone calls; one-on-one conferences) if needed. An interpreter should be provided for the parent, when necessary.

LEAs can reach out to parents of all students eligible for reclassification to consult via phone, virtual school platforms, or other technology that is available to parents in order to give parents the opportunity to discuss progress and data or to voice any concerns and questions about their child's likely reclassification.

LEAs should focus on the information that makes the student eligible, any necessary supports for the student to succeed in rigorous, grade-level learning, and how to monitor and meet these needs via the RFEP monitoring process.

It can be productive to ensure that parent consultations involve everyone who knows and will be supporting the student in the coming school year: parents, decision-makers, as well as all relevant teachers and support staff, in order to address parent questions about how the school's instructional environments and supports will continue to benefit the student's academic success. Hearing parent concerns, responding to their questions, and then collaboratively identifying strategies to address those questions is an appropriate use of parent consultation time.

The CDE is in the process of developing a standardized resource for use when addressing this criterion. The OPTEL is an observation protocol currently under development to meet the conditions of California EC Section 313.3 .

Resources to Support Criterion 3

The following resources may be helpful for LEAs looking for tools to support parent consultations during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Criterion 4: Basic Skills Relative to English Proficient Students

Comparison of the performance of the pupil in basic skills against an empirically established range of performance in basic skills based upon the performance of English proficient pupils of the same age, which demonstrates whether the pupil is sufficiently proficient in English to participate effectively in a curriculum designed for pupils of the same age whose native language is English:

LEAs establish the empirical range of performance in basic skills when setting the locally established criteria for reclassification and consider the overall achievement goals set for all students. In doing so, the following definitions of related terms may be helpful:

Performance in basic skills: The score and/or performance level resulting from a recent administration of an objective assessment of basic skills in English (e.g., Smarter Balanced assessments, district benchmarks).

Range of performance in basic skills: A range of scores on the assessment of basic skills in English that corresponds to a performance level or a range of scores within a performance level.

Students of the same age: English-proficient students who are enrolled in the same grade as the student who is being considered for reclassification.

Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium English language arts scores, LEA benchmarks, or other assessments identified by the LEA that measures progress in English language arts can be used to meet the requirements for Criterion 4. Progress can be measured by a set score or point span depending upon the educational research and value.

The selected assessment must be administered to all students, not solely to English learner students.

The Interim Assessment Blocks (IABs) may not be used to satisfy this criterion per EC Section 60642.7 (b).

If other reclassification criteria suggest that a student who scored at Summative ELPAC Overall PL 4 or Summative Alternate ELPAC Overall PL 3 (Fluent English Proficient) has learning deficits in other areas, decision-makers are encouraged to discuss these results with those who know the student (e.g., classroom teachers, parents, instructional specialists or coaches) to identify needed services and supports, so as not to preclude a student with unique needs from reclassification or reclassify too soon.
Please note, deficits in academic success, although currently unrelated to ELP, may indicate a student has incurred a deficit while learning English. Although this situation does not preclude a student from reclassification, the LEA is obligated to ensure the student is provided ongoing academic support, and any other necessary support, designed to recuperate and remedy any such deficits before reclassification, during the four-year RFEP monitoring period or beyond, until the deficits are remedied.

Resources to Support Criterion 4

The following resources may be helpful for LEAs looking for tools to support the basic skills criterion during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Smarter Balanced Website
The Smarter Balanced assessment system is designed to support instruction and give teachers better information about their students' progress.

California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP)
Students in grades three through eight and grade eleven will receive full-length summative tests for both English language arts/literacy and mathematics, with approximately seven to eight hours of total testing time for each student.

State Board of Education Approved Content Standards
Content standards were designed to encourage the highest achievement of every student, by defining the knowledge, concepts, and skills that all students should acquire at each grade level.

Legislation

Reclassification procedures shall utilize multiple criteria in determining whether to reclassify a pupil as proficient in English, including, but not limited to, all of the following:

Assessment of language proficiency using an objective assessment instrument, including, but not limited to, the English language development test that is developed or acquired pursuant to Section 60810.

Teacher evaluation, including, but not limited to, a review of the pupil's curriculum mastery.

Parental opinion and consultation.

Comparison of the performance of the pupil in basic skills against an empirically established range of performance in basic skills based upon the performance of English proficient pupils of the same age, that demonstrates whether the pupil is sufficiently proficient in English to participate effectively in a curriculum designed for pupils of the same age whose native language is English.

EC Section 313(f)
English Language Proficiency (ELP) Assessment requirements are specified in California EC sections 313, 60810, and 60812.

EC Section 60810
California law requires that the assessment for initial identification of an English learner and the summative assessment shall include, but not be limited to, an assessment of achievement of these pupils in English reading, speaking, and written skills.

LEAs Monitor RFEP Students for Four Years

The CDE released guidance regarding RFEP monitoring in a letter to LEAs titled Monitoring of Reclassified Students. State and federal laws require LEAs to monitor students who have exited EL status for a period of four years after they have RFEP status (20 United States Code Section 6841[a][4][5]; Title 5 California Code of Regulations [5 CCR] Section 11304). After students have exited an EL program through the locally-approved reclassification process, LEAs must monitor the academic progress of those RFEP students for at least four years to ensure that:

The students have not been prematurely exited;

Any academic deficit they incurred as a result of learning English has been remedied; and

The students are meaningfully participating in the standard instructional program comparable to their English-only peers.

In preparation for and during the four-year RFEP monitoring period, LEAs can continue to use the results of Criteria 2-4 to inform areas of focus for reclassified students. To this end, LEAs should establish rigorous monitoring systems that include benchmarks for expected growth in acquiring academic content knowledge during the academic year and take appropriate steps to assist students who are not adequately progressing toward those goals. During this monitoring time, LEAs must ensure that RFEP students have met the same academic achievement goals set for all students.

If RFEP students do not yet meet the same academic achievement goals set for all students during the four monitoring years or beyond, intervention and support are to be provided. These services are not dependent on specialized funds. When an LEA's monitoring of an RFEP student indicates that academic deficits were incurred while the student learned English, the LEA should take affirmative steps to provide remedy of those deficiencies and continue to provide support until resolved. For example, RFEP students who score below the adjusted range of performance on Criterion 4, during the four-year monitoring period, should receive focused support to ensure that they reach and maintain parity with native-English peers.

Letters to the Field

Guidance for Reclassification with the Summative Alternate English Language Proficiency Assessments for California for 2022-23
This letter provides updated guidance for reclassification with the Summative Alternate English Language Proficiency Assessments for California for 2022-23.

Reclassification Guidance for 2020-21 and Statewide Testing Window Extension (June 14, 2021)
This letter provides continued reclassification guidance and notifies LEAs of adjustments to the Summative ELPAC testing schedule.

COVID-19 Reclassification Guidance for 2019-20 and Fall Administration (July 1, 2020)
This letter provides guidance regarding ELPAC testing and reclassifying students from English learner to fluent English proficient status for 2019-20.

Letter to Local Educational Agencies Regarding the Monitoring of Reclassified Students (December 20, 2019)
This letter reminds LEAs about requirements of monitoring reclassified students.

Reclassification Guidance for 2019-20 (September 2, 2019)
This letter provides guidance to LEAs regarding reclassifying students from English learner to fluent English proficient status.

Updated Letter to Local Educational Agencies Regarding Reclassification Guidance for 2018-19 (January 18, 2019)
This letter updates the guidance previously provided to local educational agencies regarding reclassifying students from English learner to fluent English proficient status.

Letter to Local Educational Agencies Regarding Interim Reclassification Guidance for 2018-19 (September 14, 2018)
This letter updates to interim guidance provided to LEAs regarding reclassifying students from English learner to fluent English proficient status.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) and Additional Resources

Reclassification FAQs
The above link provides frequently asked questions regarding English learner reclassification.

Surveying the Landscape of California's English Learner Reclassification Policy
This report shares results from a survey of district policies for measuring English learner progress and for removing the English learner designation, before and during school closures due to COVID-19.

English Learners Resources Web Page
The above link provides FAQs regarding English learners in California and appropriate teacher authorizations and links to websites with information about developing programs for linguistically and culturally diverse students.

Federal Program Monitoring (FPM) Instrument California Department of Education (CDE) Web Page
The California Department of Education Monitoring Tool is a web-based system, which allows LEAs to facilitate a response to state and federal requirements for program monitoring.

U.S. Department of Education English Learner Toolkit Web Page
Office of English Language Acquisition's EL Tool Kit was published in 2015 as a companion to support the January 7, 2015 Dear Colleague Letter (PDF) produced by the Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, and the Department of Justice, outlining legal obligations for English learner students. Some chapters of the tool kit have been updated related to the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) of 2015.

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Information on how a local educational agency (LEA) determines whether or not an English learner (EL) student has sufficient English proficiency to be reclassified as a fluent English speaker.

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Alternate English Language Proficiency Assessment for California (ELPAC) Fact Sheet

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Alternate English Language Proficiency Assessment for California (ELPAC) Fact Sheet

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The Alternate English Language Proficiency Assessments for California (ELPAC)

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The Alternate English Language Proficiency Assessments for California (ELPAC)

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Strategies to Support Active Parent Engagement

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Strategies to Support Active Parent Engagement

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Figure 5.1-  California Practitioners' Guide for Educating ELs with Disabilities

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Appendix 5.1-  California Practitioners' Guide for Educating ELs with Disabilities

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Appendix 5.1 - IEP Team Checklist For English Learners (ELs).pdf

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Appendix 4.5-  California Practitioners' Guide for Educating ELs with Disabilities

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Appendix 4.4-  California Practitioners' Guide for Educating ELs with Disabilities

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Appendix 4.4 - English Learner Teacher Questionnaire.pdf

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The Open Access Project is based in the foundational belief that with access to quality curriculum & instruction, students with disabilities can engage, actively participate, and learn within inclusive settings.

The pathway includes:

implementing the principles of universal design for learning (UDL) across all learning environments;

incorporating digital tools and/or accessible technologies (AT) into the design of instruction and measurement of learning; and

providing access to augmentative alternative communication (AAC) strategies and supports and a commitment to building communication competence for students with complex communication needs.

Click here for a Quick Overview of the Open Access Project to print and share.

Reach out with questions, comments or ideas or to inquire about participating in an Open Access project.

Find out what's currently happening or what's coming up within our network.

In this space you can search for handouts, tools, presentations, and quarterly and annual reports related to our projects.

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Open Access 2.0 | Learning and Participation for All Students

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Providing Accessibility through UDL, AT, and AAC

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Chapter 9-Reclassification from English Learner Status

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Chapter 9-Reclassification from English Learner Status

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Importance of Implementing CAASPP and ELPAC Accessibility Resources: Voices from Educators

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CDE Monitoring Reclassified Students Memo

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CDE Monitoring Reclassified Students Memo

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Dear County and District Superintendents and Charter School Administrators:

This letter serves to remind local educational agencies (LEAs) of state and federal laws that require four years of monitoring of students who have exited from English learner (EL) status because they have been reclassified to fluent English proficient (RFEP) status. (20 U.S.C. Section 6841(a)(4)(5); California Code of Regulations, Title 5, Section 11304.)

To this end, LEAs should establish rigorous monitoring systems that include benchmarks for expected growth in acquiring academic content knowledge during the academic year and take appropriate steps to assist students who are not adequately progressing toward those goals.

After students have exited an EL program, LEAs must monitor the academic progress of former EL students for at least four years to ensure that:

The students have not been prematurely exited;

Any academic deficit they incurred as a result of participation in the EL program have been remedied; and

The students are meaningfully participating in the standard instructional program comparable to their never-EL peers.

Furthermore, when an LEA's monitoring of an exited EL student indicates that a persistent language barrier may be the cause of academic difficulty because general education and remediation services have proven inadequate, LEAs should take affirmative steps to assess the student with a valid and reliable grade-appropriate test to determine if there is a persistent language barrier and must offer additional language assistance services (i.e., Integrated and Designated English-language development, reading intervention, etc.) as needed.

When an LEA's monitoring of an exited EL student indicates that academic deficits were incurred while the student participated in an English language program, the LEA should take affirmative steps to provide remedy for those deficits.

During this monitoring time, LEAs ensure RFEP students have met the same academic achievement goals set for all students. If these students do not yet meet that standard, intervention and support is to be provided. These services are not dependent on specialized funds.

Under the Federal Program Monitoring (FPM) process, the California Department of Education (CDE) monitors whether:

LEAs' programs enable EL students to acquire English, content knowledge, and parity of participation in the standard instructional program;

LEAs monitor the progress of all of their EL students, including opt outs, in achieving English language proficiency (ELP) and acquiring content knowledge;

LEAs monitor EL student progress to establish benchmarks for expected growth and to assist students who are not adequately progressing toward those goals;

LEAs do not exit students from EL programs, services, and status until EL students demonstrate English proficiency on the English Language Proficiency Assessments for California (ELPAC); and

LEAs monitor, for at least four years, the academic progress of students who have exited an EL program to ensure that the students have not been prematurely exited, any academic deficits they incurred resulting from the EL program have been remedied, and they are meaningfully participating in the district's educational programs comparable to their never-EL peers.

On January 7, 2015, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) provided guidance through a "Dear Colleague" letter giving states and LEAs information regarding obligations to EL students and to students who have exited EL status. That letter can be found on the ED website at https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/letters/colleague-el-201501.pdf.

If you have any questions regarding the monitoring of RFEP students, please contact Elena Fajardo, Administrator, Language Policy and Leadership Office, by phone at
916-319-0845 or by email at efajardo@cde.ca.gov.

If you have questions regarding the FPM process, please contact Theresa Hawk, Administrator, Technical Assistance and Monitoring Office, by phone at 916-319-0845 or by email at thawk@cde.ca.gov.

Sincerely,

/s/

Sarah Neville-Morgan
Deputy Superintendent
Opportunities for All Branch

/s/

Stephanie Gregson
Deputy Superintendent
Instruction and Measurement Branch

SNM/SG:ef

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Dear County and District Superintendents and Charter School Administrators: This letter serves to remind local educational agencies (LEAs) of state and federal laws that require four years of monitoring of students who have exited from English learner (EL) status because they have been reclassified to fluent English proficient (RFEP) status.

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CDE COVID-19 Reclassification Guidance Memo

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CDE COVID-19 Reclassification Guidance Memo

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Dear County and District Superintendents and Charter School Administrators:

In January and September 2019, the California Department of Education (CDE) provided guidance regarding changes to the Summative English Language Proficiency Assessments for California (ELPAC) threshold scores and the policy decision to standardize the ELPAC criterion to inform English learner (EL) student reclassification decisions. This letter is to provide reclassification guidance, given the suspension of the California assessment due to the (COVID-19) pandemic, and notify you of future adjustments to the Summative ELPAC testing schedule.

Existing Reclassification Criteria

The reclassification criteria set forth in California Education Code Section 313 and Title 5 California Code of Regulations Section 11303 remain unchanged. Local educational agencies (LEAs) should continue using the following four criteria to establish reclassification policies and procedures:

Assessment of English language proficiency (ELP), using an objective assessment instrument, including, but not limited to, the state test of ELPAC;

Teacher evaluation, including, but not limited to, a review of the student's curriculum mastery;

Parent opinion and consultation; and

Comparison of student performance in basic skills against an empirically established range of performance in basic skills of English proficient students of the same age.

ELPAC Overall Performance Level (PL) 4 has been established as the statewide standardized ELP criterion (1), and LEAs shall use Overall PL 4 to determine whether a student has met that criterion. All other reclassification criteria (2-4) remain locally determined.

COVID-19 Reclassification Guidance

Due to the school closures aforementioned and resulting circumstances caused by COVID-19, the 2019-2020 Summative ELPAC was suspended for accountability purposes. The CDE is providing the following reclassification guidance for criteria 1 and 4:

Criterion 1: For those students who completed testing in 2019-2020, LEAs will use the results from the 2019-2020 Summative ELPAC to determine reclassification eligibility. For those students who did not complete testing in the spring of 2019-2020, an optional fall Summative ELPAC window will be open and available between August 20-October 30, 2020. During this window, LEAs can administer the optional fall Summative ELPAC and use the results to meet criterion 1 eligibility for reclassification. The optional fall Summative ELPAC is highly recommended for all English learner students who have already met all other criteria in 2019-2020 except for criterion 1, particularly in grades four to eleven.

Criterion 4: For all grade levels, LEAs can use most recent local assessments or the Smarter Balanced Summative English language arts assessments.

More information regarding the details of the optional fall 2020 administration of the Summative ELPAC for reclassification purposes will be provided at a later date through the LEA ELPAC coordinators.

For more reclassification information, please visit the CDE Reclassification web page at https://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/el/rd/. For questions related to EL assessment, please contact the English Language Proficiency and Spanish Assessments Office by email at ELPAC@cde.ca.gov.

Sincerely,

/s/

Sarah Neville-Morgan, Deputy Superintendent
Opportunities for All Branch

SNM:sc

cc: Regional Assessment Network
Title III Directors
Title III Regional County Office of Education English Learner Specialists
Bilingual Coordinators Network
LEA ELPAC Coordinators

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COVID-19 Reclassification Guidance 2019-20 - Reclassification (CA Dept of Education)

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Dear County and District Superintendents and Charter School Administrators: In January and September 2019, the California Department of Education (CDE) provided guidance regarding changes to the Summative English Language Proficiency Assessments for California (ELPAC) threshold scores and the policy decision to standardize the ELPAC criterion to inform English learner (EL) student reclassification decisions.

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USDE English Learner Fact Sheet Addendum

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USDE English Learner Fact Sheet Addendum

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Types of Accommodations for ELs with Disabilities

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Types of Accommodations for ELs with Disabilities

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Figure 7.1- CA Practitioners' Guide for Educating ELs with Disabilities

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English Learner Roadmap | Imperial County Office of Education

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This policy is intended to assist the California Department of Education in providing guidance to local educational agencies (LEAs) in welcoming, understanding, and educating the diverse population of students who are English learners attending California public schools.

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Comparison of Language Differences vs Disabilities

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Comparison of Language Differences vs Disabilities

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Figure 3.3- California Practitioners' Guide for Educating ELs with Disabilities

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Appendix 4.3-  California Practitioners' Guide for Educating ELs with Disabilities

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Appendix 4.3 - English Learner Student Questionnaire= Language-Use.pdf

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Appendix 4.8-  California Practitioners' Guide for Educating ELs with Disabilities

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Appendix 4.8 - Parent Report Individual Education Program Development.pdf

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Appendix 4.7-  California Practitioners' Guide for Educating ELs with Disabilities

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Appendix 4.7- Focused Observation of English Learner during English Instruction.pdf

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Appendix 4.6-  California Practitioners' Guide for Educating ELs with Disabilities

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Appendix 4.6 - English Learner Classroom Observation Checklist.pdf

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CA Practitioners' Guide for Educating ELs with Disabilities 

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CA Practitioners' Guide for Educating ELs with Disabilities 

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Infographic

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CA PG EL SWD Chapters and sections infographic.pdf

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San Diego Unified Comprehensive Evaluation Process for English Learners

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San Diego Unified Comprehensive Evaluation Process for English Learners