Under the new state testing program called California Assessment for Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP), 3rd through 8th grade San Ysidro students will be participating this year in the Smarter Balanced Assessments in English Language Arts/Literacy and Mathematics. In addition, our 5th and 8th grade students will be participating in the California Standards Test for science.

Smarter Balanced online assessments: These Common Core Standards-aligned tests have replaced our former state tests for English Language Arts and Mathematics. They are designed to provide educators, students and parents with more meaningful and relevant information about student academic growth and progress.

1. They are computer based:

• some questions are interactive
• great variety of supporting tools

2. They are computer adaptive:

• test questions are designed to help pinpoint what students know and can do
• correct answers are followed by more difficult question; incorrect answers are followed by an easier question
• provide a more precise estimate of student understanding

3. They present tasks in a realistic context

To get an idea of what the test looks like and what types of items are in this online assessment, visit the Smarter Balanced Practice and Training Test site.

Additional resources and information may also be found at the following links:

These newly-revised Parent Guides from the California Department of Education provide information about the Smarter Balanced Summative Assessments, including sample test items for English language arts/literacy and mathematics. This information is provided to help you better understand your children’s test results.

• Parent Guide, Grades 3–5 in English
• Parent Guide, Grades 6–8 in English
• Parent Guide, Grades 3–5 in Spanish
• Parent Guide, Grades 6–8 in Spanish 

The Be a Learning Hero project of the New Venture Fund (a group of organizations including the National PTA, Great Schools, National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, Council of the Great City Schools) has pulled together resources and information to inform and help parents so they can support their children's learning and help them be successful in school. It includes a short video that highlights the new Smarter Balanced Assessments. A similar video in Spanish may be found by following this link.

Fact sheets, questions and answers, and resources for parents may be found at the the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium webpage.

Informational handouts about the Common Core Standards and what they mean for education and California students can be found in multiple languages at this California Department of Education website.

This CCSS Resource List provides a list of resources that have been compiled for parents interested in learning more about the Common Core State Standards and how to support their child's attainment of these standards.

The California Standards Test (CST) is an assessment that measure students’ achievement of California’s content standards for English–Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, and History–Social Science. 

• Students in Grades 2 to 11 are tested in English Language Arts and Math.
  
  
• Students in Grades 4 and 7 are tested in Writing
  
  
• Students in Grades 8 to 11 are tested in History-Social Science
  
  
• Students in Grade 5 and Grade 8 to 11 are tested in Science

California Alternate Performance Assessment (CAPA)  This assessment is designed for students in Grades 2 to 11 who have significant cognitive disabilities and are unable to take the CSTs even with accommodations or modifications and whose Individualized Education Program (IEP) indicates assessment with CAPA.

This alternate assessment measures achievement of California’s content standards for English–Language Arts, Mathematics, and Science.

• Students in Grades 2-11 are tested in English Language Arts and Math
  
  
• Students in Grade 5, 8 and 10 Science

The California Modified Assessment (CMA) is an alternate assessment of the California content standards based on modified achievement standards for children with disabilities grades 3 to 8 who satisfy the CMA eligibility critera. 

• Students in Grades 3 to 11 are tested in English Language Arts
  
  
• Students in Grades 3 to 7 are tested in Math
  
  
• Students in Grades 7 to 11 are tested in Algebra and Geometry
  
  
• Students in Grade 4 and 7 are tested in Writing
  
  
• Students in Grade 5, 8, and 10 are tested in Science
   

Resources

• Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR)
• California Standards Test (CST)

The California English Language Development Test (CELDT) identifies students who are English learners, determines their level of proficiency in English, and assesses the progress of limited English proficient students in acquiring the skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing in English.

All newly enrolled students whose primary language is not English must take the test within 30 calendar days after they are enrolled in a California public school for the first time. The CELDT also must be given once each year to English learners until they are reclassified.

The State Board of Education designated the FITNESSGRAM as the Physical Fitness Test for students in California public schools. The FITNESSGRAM is a comprehensive, health-related physical fitness battery developed by The Cooper Institute. The primary goal of the FITNESSGRAM is to assist students in establishing lifetime habits of regular physical activity.

The California Physical Fitness Test (PFT) provides information that can be used by students to assess and plan personal fitness programs; by teachers to design the curriculum for physical education programs; and by parents and guardians to understand their children’s fitness levels. This program also provides results that are used to monitor changes in the physical fitness of California students. By law (California Education Code Section 60800), all school districts in California are required to administer the PFT annually to all students in grades five, seven, and nine.

The FITNESSGRAM is composed of the following six fitness areas, with a number of test options provided for most areas:

• Aerobic Capacity
  
  
• Body Composition
  
  
• Abdominal Strength and Endurance
  
  
• Trunk Extensor Strength and Endurance
  
  
• Flexibility
  
  
• Upper Body Strength and Endurance