Assessment Spotlight, Issue 234

Focusing on the CAASPP System and English Language Proficiency Assessments for California (ELPAC)—and including, when timely, updates on California’s other statewide assessments. For questions related to test administration, coordination, and trainings, visit the CAASPP website and the ELPAC website .

2023 California Assessment Conference—Last Call for Session Presenters

The 2023 California Assessment Conference (CAC) will offer Shared Practices sessions featuring teachers, teams, and school sites from across the state that have developed best practices for implementing assessment resources in support of teaching and learning. We encourage educators to join us in presenting at this year’s conference.

The CAC Call for Presenters closes on June 23, 2023. To submit your session proposal and for more information about the conference, visit the CAC website .

This year’s CAC is on October 9–10, 2023, at the SAFE Credit Union Convention Center in Sacramento. You can register for the conference at the CAC website and conference presenters receive a discounted registration rate. Email any questions to caaspp@scoe.net.

June’s Featured Resource in Tools for Teachers—Are We Really One of a Kind?

Third grade teachers can use this month’s Tools for Teachers science instructional resource, Are We Really One of a Kind? (Account required), to help students learn to collect and interpret data to show that variation in traits exists in a group of organisms of the same species. This phenomenon-based lesson, aligned with the California Next Generation Science Standards, focuses on the Science and Engineering Practice—Analyzing and Interpreting Data and the Crosscutting Concept—Patterns.

In this lesson, students will strengthen their observation skills as well as hone compare/contrast skills by identifying similar and different traits. During the activities, students observe a sunflower seed, and then identify the same seed within a collection of seeds. The teacher guides students in using the Notice/Wonder formative assessment strategy, along with using a Think-Pair-Share and Exit Ticket to engage with the hands-on content to deepen students’ scientific skills and thinking.

To view this and other instructional resources, local educational agency (LEA) staff need a Tools for Teachers account which can be obtained either through self-registration, described in the flyer How to Self-Register for Tools for Teachers (PDF), or through their LEA CAASPP coordinator.

Free Registration for 2023 High School Equivalency and Proficiency Summer Convenings!

Register now for the 2023 High School Equivalency (HSE) and Proficiency Summer Convenings that will be happening across California from August 7–18, 2023! The California Department of Education (CDE) invites chief examiners, test site administrators, school counselors, and others with a connection to HSE and Proficiency exams to attend a session. These convenings are designed to provide timely updates and to collect valuable feedback regarding the HSE and proficiency exams.Register for free today to join us at a location near you.

Please share this email with any educators in your LEA who would be interested in or benefit from this information. To join the email list, send a blank email message to subscribe-caaspp@mlist.cde.ca.gov. Are you a new subscriber? Visit the CDE Assessment Spotlight web page to find previous issues.