ELPAC email update, August 2, 2023.

Dear LEA CAASPP Coordinator or LEA ELPAC Coordinator:

California Science Test (CAST) and English Language Proficiency Assessments for California (ELPAC) Interim Assessments will soon become available to local educational agencies (LEAs). The CAST and ELPAC Interim Assessments will join the Smarter Balanced Interim Assessments for English language arts/literacy and mathematics as state-provided interim assessments.

Interim assessments are one component of the California Assessment System. The interim assessments are optional and can be administered to students in either a standardized (e.g., benchmark) or nonstandardized (e.g., formative) manner, or used by school and district staff for professional development. The purpose of the interim assessments is to provide teachers and administrators with data they can use to support teaching and learning.

Interim Assessment Release Plan

The CAST and ELPAC Interim Assessments will be made available to LEAs according to the following timeline:

• September 19, 2023—Preview Access for Educators
  • Interim assessment forms will be available in the Interim Assessment Viewing System.
  • Secure hand scoring materials and answer keys will be available in the Test Operations Management System (TOMS).
• October 19, 2023—Administration and Results Access
  • Interim assessment forms will be available in the Test Delivery System for administering to students.
  • Items requiring hand scoring will be available in either the Teacher Hand Scoring System or the Data Entry Interface.
  • Once hand scoring is completed, the following data will be available in the California Educator Reporting System (CERS):
    • Overall scale scores
    • Performance levels
    • Custom aggregate reports
    • Key and distractor analysis
• Late January 2024
  • Test items and student responses will be viewable in CERS.
• Late July 2024
  • Individual Student Reports (ISRs) will be available in CERS.

Webinars

To assist LEA staff—including coordinators, administrators, and teachers—in understanding the content of the new ELPAC and CAST Interim Assessments and resources available to support their use, the California Department of Education will offer the following two webinars:

• Introducing the ELPAC Interim Assessments
  • Thursday, September 26, 2023, 3:30 to 4:45 p.m.
• Introducing the CAST Interim Assessments
  • Thursday, October 3, 2023, 3:30 to 4:45 p.m.

These 75-minute webinars will cover interim assessment basics for each program such as the:

• forms available by grade level/grade span;
• content covered;
• item types;
• ways in which the assessments can be used; and
• resources available to support understanding and use.

Registration: Register now for the Introducing the ELPAC and CAST Interim Assessments webinars .

If you have any questions about this email, please contact Nikki Antonovich, Coordinator, Sacramento County Office of Education by email at caaspp@scoe.net.

Sincerely,

California Outreach Team

CAASPP website and ELPAC website

Contact Us: California Outreach web page