ELPAC Monthly Communication

This communication includes information about the Initial, Summative, and Alternate ELPAC.

Urgently Needed

Alternate ELPAC Operational Field Test: English Only Study

To support test content validity, local educational agencies (LEAs) that are participating in the Alternate ELPAC operational field test are asked to voluntarily test students with the most significant cognitive disabilities whose primary or home language is English only. A monetary incentive will be provided to LEAs that participate in this study. Contact the Sacramento County Office of Education (SCOE) by email at elpac@scoe.net if interested.

Alternate ELPAC Standard Setting Meeting

The California Department of Education (CDE) and the ELPAC project team are urgently seeking California educators who teach students who are both English learner (EL) students and have significant cognitive disabilities to participate in the Alternate ELPAC Standard Setting Workshop, which will take place virtually in two sessions:

• Kindergarten through grade two: February 22–25, 2022
• Grades three through twelve: February 28–March 3, 2022

If you are interested, please contact the ELPAC project team by phone at 916-228-2682 or by email at edopportunities@scoe.net.

Alternate ELPAC Operational Field Test Segments

The Alternate ELPAC operational field test is divided into three segments. The first segment contains the first six in-test survey questions. The second segment contains the 34 test questions that should be administered one-on-one with the student. The third segment has the final four in-test survey questions. The test examiner must complete all in-test survey questions.

Segments 1 and 2 cannot be revisited after accessing segment 3. After the test examiner completes each segment, a review screen will appear that allows the test examiner to review the questions from that particular segment. Following the review screen after segment 2, a message will appear to remind the test examiner that, once segment 3 has been reached, segments 1 and 2 can no longer be accessed.

For more information on the test segments and the in-test survey questions , please review the Alternate ELPAC Operational Field Test Manual .

Upcoming Dates and Deadlines

Please mark your calendars!

December 2, 2021

ELPAC: What's New for Testing?

This virtual training will be on December 2, 2021, from 2 to 4 p.m. By the end of this training, participants will be able to communicate about changes and updates to assessments and testing systems and plan for the administration of the Summative ELPAC. Register now for the CAASPP and ELPAC Pretest Virtual Training .

December 3, 2021

Coffee Sessions

The next virtual Coffee Session, hosted by the CDE and ETS, will be on December 3, 2021, from 2 to 3 p.m. LEAs can use the 2021–22 Coffee Session Content Request Form to submit questions in advance, request demonstrations, or tell us about a best practice that can be shared with your fellow LEA coordinators. Register now for the December 2021 Coffee Session .

Summative ELPAC Administration and Scoring Training

A reminder that the Summative ELPAC AST opened on October 18, 2021, in the Moodle Training Site (Moodle) . The LEA ELPAC coordinator or a designee must complete either the kindergarten through grade twelve course or the grades six through twelve course by December 3, 2021. At the end of the LEA Certification course, a certificate of completion is issued, which marks the LEA training requirement as complete.

LEA ELPAC coordinators responsible for multiple LEAs should alert SCOE at elpac@scoe.net when the LEA Certification course is completed so the certification requirement can count for the other LEAs.

Summative ELPAC AST binders were shipped in October to LEAs that requested them. LEAs may request binders on the ELPAC Administration and Scoring Training website.

December 9, 2021

Summative ELPAC and Alternate ELPAC Question and Answer Session for Coordinators

This virtual Question and Answer Session , hosted by SCOE and ETS, will be on December 9, 2021, from 1 to 2 p.m. This session will offer LEA staff an opportunity to ask questions and get answers about both Summative and Alternate ELPAC Administration and Scoring Trainings (AST). Preregistration is not required.

December 17, 2021

Alternate ELPAC Directions for Administration Focus Groups

ETS and SCOE are looking for test examiners who will have administered the Alternate ELPAC operational field test prior to the dates of the focus groups to provide feedback on the Directions for Administration. The focus groups will be held on Thursday, January 20, and Tuesday, February 1, 2022. If you would like to attend one of these focus groups, please contact SCOE at elpac@scoe.net by December 17, 2021.

December 20, 2021

Summative ELPAC Test Materials Ordering Window Closes

LEAs should submit their order for kindergarten through grade two Writing testing materials in the Test Operations Management System (TOMS) by December 20, 2021. To do this, navigate to the [Orders] tab > [Place Primary Order] tab in TOMS. Orders can be placed during the following ordering windows:

• Primary materials ordering window: November 1–December 20, 2021
• Supplemental materials ordering window: January 14–May 13, 2022

Orders placed in November will be delivered the week of December 13, 2021. Orders placed in December will be delivered the week of January 3, 2022. Please check that the shipping address in TOMS is correct prior to ordering to ensure that materials are delivered to the appropriate location. The shipping address must be a physical location; materials cannot be shipped to a post office box.

Ongoing Reminders!

Contact your LEA Success Agent!

ETS launched a new way of supporting LEA ELPAC coordinators last month. To find out more information and the contact information for your LEA Success Agent, please visit the California Outreach web page.

Student Names with Accent Marks

Some LEAs reported difficulties entering students' names when they contain accent marks. Please review the directions about signing students in to a test session, found in the "Signing In to the Student Testing Site " section of the CAASPP Online Test Administration Manual . LEAs can determine the relevant Unicode characters for their students and practice logging on to a practice test or interim assessment.

Summative ELPAC Form Assignments

Form assignments for the 2021–22 Summative ELPAC administration are now available on the ELPAC Forms Assignment web page. Use the lookup tool to identify which form number the LEA has been assigned. In some cases, large LEAs will be assigned to multiple forms; these will be displayed accordingly. Keep in mind that students who move from one LEA to another do not have to complete all domains using the same form. If a student started and did not finish a domain at the previous LEA, the student will complete the domain using the form assigned to the previous LEA. If a student did not start a domain or has completed a domain, the student should complete all other domains using the form assigned to the new LEA.

LEAs assigned to Form 2 through Form 6 can view a recording of the Forms Assignment Question and Answer Session available in the Trainer's Resources course in Moodle .

Alternate ELPAC Operational Field Test

Alternate ELPAC Operational Field Test Window Continues

The testing window for the Alternate ELPAC operational field test is open from November 1, 2021, to February 15, 2022. The Alternate ELPAC must be administered by a trained Alternate ELPAC test examiner who is an employee of the LEA and is familiar with the student's preferred mode of communication. Students who have the most significant cognitive disabilities, as determined by their individualized education program team, and who are also EL students are required to take the Alternate ELPAC operational field test.

The Alternate ELPAC operational field test DFAs are available in TOMS . Test Item Preview books, which allow test examiners to view test content and plan individualized administrations for each student, are available in the Alternate ELPAC Test Examiner's Certification course in Moodle . For more information on the administration of the Alternate ELPAC operational field test, refer to the Alternate ELPAC Operational Field Test Manual .

Note: Students who enroll in an LEA after the start of testing and have partially completed an assessment at their prior LEA will need to complete that assessment using the form assigned at the prior LEA. LEA coordinators, site coordinators, and test examiners can determine the correct form on the Alternate ELPAC Form Assignments for the 2021–22 Operational Field Test web page.

Summative ELPAC and Alternate ELPAC Operational Field Test Eligibility Report

Throughout the test administration, LEAs can refer to the Summative ELPAC and Alt ELPAC Operational FT Student Eligibility Report in TOMS for a list of all students within the LEA who are eligible and assigned to take the Summative ELPAC and the Alternate ELPAC operational field test. Information about the Alternate ELPAC appears in the last column. Alternate ELPAC indicators are as follows:

• "N/A"—The student is not eligible.
• "N"—The student is eligible but has not been assigned the test.
• "Y"—The student is eligible and has been assigned the test.

Final Release of Summative ELPAC Student Results

Superintendents and LEA ELPAC coordinators will be notified by the CDE about the public release of student scores in late fall.

ELPAC Results Are In—Now What?

The ELPAC Results Are In—Now What? Connecting Assessment to Instruction virtual workshops modules 8 through 10 are now available. Modules can be accessed in Moodle .

Virtual Trainings Available

Refer to the Upcoming Training Opportunities web page on the ELPAC website for all virtual trainings available this month.

Available Now!

Manuals, Instructions, and Quick Reference Guides

• Summative ELPAC Online Test Administration Manual updated
• Guide to CAASPP and ELPAC Completion Status updated

Videos

• Summative and Alternate ELPAC Q&A sessions are available to view in Moodle .
• How to Enter Student Test Assignments by Batch File Upload video
• How to Enter Student Test Assignments One by One video

Access to Previous ELPAC Monthly Communications

Previous ELPAC monthly communications, as well as other email communications, can be found on the ELPAC Coordinator Emails web page.

Direct any questions about the ELPAC to your LEA Success Agent . To find the contact information for your LEA Success Agent, please visit the California Outreach web page.

Sincerely,

California Outreach Team
ELPAC website
Contact Us: California Outreach web page