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When does testing take place?
When does testing take place?
The Summative SBAC test is administered each year in the Spring. Prior to testing, parents will receive an annual notification with specific information regarding administration of the test. For school site specific information including testing bell schedules, updates, testing reminders, etc, please see your child's school webpage or look for updates posted on ParentSquare.
Which tests will my child take?
Which tests will my child take?
Students in grades 3 - 8 will take a test to measure their knowledge and progress in Language Arts and in Math.
Students in grade 5 and 8 will take an additional test to measure knowledge and progress in Science. This is called the California Science Test (CAST).
The Language Arts and Math tests are broken up into 2 parts. The format for these 2 parts is different.
The Language Arts and Math tests are broken up into 2 parts. The format for these 2 parts is different.
The first part is called a Computer Adaptive Test (CAT). Here the test will adjust the difficulty of the question(s) based on a student's answer. As students answer questions correctly or incorrectly the test will adjust in order to more accurately measure a student's knowledge of the subject matter.
The second part is called a Performance Task (PT). This part of the test is intended to measure a student's ability to apply and express their knowledge in different ways. Typically students are asked to respond to an open ended question or questions in writing.
The California Science Test (CAST) is taken by all students in grade 8 and covers content from grades 6, 7, and 8. The CAST covers information from across three science domains: earth and space sciences, life sciences, and physical sciences. The CAST is broken up into 6 segments consisting of discrete items or performance tasks as indicated on the chart to the right.
Discrete items are stand alone test items, meaning they are not connected to other questions on the test.
Performance tasks are a group of test items that are all connected to a single science concept or phenomenon.
Why are the Summative Assessments so important?
Why are the Summative Assessments so important?
The state of California measures student progress each year and overall results are published for the public to view. Summative Assessment scores are one of many indicators used to determine how successful schools are at achieving learning goals and to serve as a comparison against other schools in the state. The most recent scores can be seen and show growth toward overall proficiency in ELA, Math and Science.
Scores may also be used to help determine placement of students in classes. This can become especially important as students prepare to leave middle school for high school. Test scores can also be useful to determine if a student needs additional support(s) in content or other areas.
Our goal is to make sure that all students are able to show what they have learned and are prepared to be successful on this year's administration of the CAASPP / CAST.
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