CAASPP Parent Guides: Smarter Balanced Assessments
These guides provide information about the Smarter Balanced Summative Assessments, including sample test items for English language arts/literacy and mathematics for grades 3-8 and 11. This information will help parents better understand their children’s test results.
Designated supports for the Smarter Balanced assessments are those features that are available for use by any student for whom the need has been indicated by an educator (or team of educators with parent/guardian and student).
It is recommended that a consistent process be used to determine these supports for individual students. All educators making these decisions should be trained on the process and should be made aware of the range of designated supports available.
Accommodations are changes in procedures or materials that increase equitable access during the Smarter Balanced assessments. They allow these students to show what they know and can do. Smarter Balanced members have identified digitally-embedded and non-embedded accommodations for students for whom there is documentation of the need for the accommodations on an Individualized Education Program (IEP) or 504 accommodation plan. One exception to the IEP or 504 requirement is for students who have had a physical injury (e.g., broken hand or arm) that impairs their ability to use a computer. These students may use the speech-to-text or the scribe accommodations (if they have had sufficient experience with the use of these), as noted in this section.
Determination of which accommodations an individual student will have available for the assessment is necessary because these accommodations must be made available before the assessment, either by entering information into the ART, or member’s comparable platform, for embedded accommodations, or by ensuring that the materials or setting are available for the assessment for non-embedded accommodations.
Resources and guides for parents or guardians to help interpret the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) student score report.
Sample of student score reports for parents or guardians.
Guide to Understanding the CAASPP Student Score Report
These guides explain the CAASPP Student Score Report for grades three through eight and grade eleven.
(Video; 5:14) explains how to interpret the results, and highlights the new features found on the report.
(Video; 8:00) explica el Reporte de Puntuación del Estudiante en CAASPP y acentuá las nuevas características que se encuentran en el reporte.