Assessment Spotlight, Issue 268

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 .

Technical Issues During Summative Testing

In rare instances, students may encounter an interruption in testing caused by technical issues such as an accessibility resource not functioning correctly, test navigation tools not working properly, or external issues that interfere with testing such as a power outage. The students should stop testing immediately and notify their test administrator. The administrator can then investigate the issue and report it to the site coordinator, as needed. The site or local educational agency (LEA) coordinator may need to contact their LEA Success Agents to resolve the issue. Once the issue is resolved, the student may continue testing.

Please do not have students continue the test if they report issues with the test delivery system. Once the issue has been resolved, the students may continue testing and still receive a valid score. A reset of the test cannot be granted under these circumstances, as the students have been exposed to test items and retesting would only lead to an invalid result.

Clarification on Who May Take California Proficiency Program Test

Changes have been made to the HiSET-Proficiency registration system to accommodate additional students in the California Proficiency Program (CPP). In short, any student subject to California's compulsory education laws and rules may be able to take a CPP test. Here is the new guidance on who may take a California proficiency test under California Education Code (EC) Section 48412:

1. Students must meet one of the following:
   
   
   1. Be 16 years of age or older; or
      
      
   2. Be enrolled in grade 10 for one school year or longer; or
      
      
   3. Will complete one school year of enrollment in grade 10 at the end of the semester during which the next regular examination will be conducted.
      
      
2. Students must also be currently subject to California’s compulsory education laws pursuant to EC Section 48200, which may be evidenced by one of the following:
   
   
   1. Current enrollment in a California K–12 public high school; or
      
      
   2. Current enrollment in a private school (Registered by filing a private school affidavit with the California Department of Education (CDE) pursuant to EC Section 33190 and includes, but is not limited to, students at registered private schools operated by their parents to homeschool their children pursuant to EC Section 48222); or
      
      
   3. Current work permit issued by the Department of Industrial Relations Division to a student currently working in California; provided that the student is either receiving tutoring pursuant to EC Section 48224 or enrolled in an independent study program under EC Section 51745, to accommodate the student’s work schedule.
      

Additional information can be found on the CPP web page. If you would like to receive email updates about the CPP, send a blank email to join-cpp-updates@mlist.cde.ca.gov.

To receive future CAASPP updates and notifications, subscribe to the CAASPP mailing list by sending a blank email message to subscribe-caaspp@mlist.cde.ca.gov. For previous Assessment Spotlight issues, visit the CDE Assessment Spotlight web page.