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(1.76) What is the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) System?

(1.76) What is the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) System?

The CAASPP is the California student achievement testing system for English Language Arts/Literacy (ELA) and math for students in grades 3 through 8 and 11.  It includes the California Science Test (CAST) for students in grades 5, 8, and one of grade 10, 11, or 12 in which the pupil is receiving science instruction. [Title 5 California Code of Regulations (.C.C.R) Sec. 851.5. The CAASPP system replaced the STAR (Standardized Testing and Reporting) Program beginning with the 2014-15 school year. [California Education Code (Cal. Ed. Code) Sec. 60640.]

The ELA and math portions of the test are based on the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), which is a set of educational achievement standards that California and a number of other states have adopted since 2010. The CCSS describe what students should know and be able to do in each subject area at each of these grade levels. The CAST measures what students know and can do using the California Next Generation Science Standards, which focus on understanding the scientific concepts found in the life sciences, earth and space sciences, and physical sciences.

Students with IEPs in grades three through eight and eleven who cannot take the CAASPP tests even with appropriate accommodations, and whose parents do not excuse them from the program, may be given an alternate test which is known as the California Alternate Assessment (CAA).  See Chapter 11 Information on District-wide Assessment/Graduation Requirements.