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Assessment Flexibility and Window Extension Survey

Dear Superintendent, LEA CAASPP Coordinator, or LEA ELPAC Coordinator:

The California Department of Education (CDE) and ETS respectfully request that one recipient of this communication participate in a brief online survey regarding administration of student assessments in spring 2021.

Background

On April 6, 2021, the U.S. Department of Education notified the California State Board of Education (SBE) and the CDE that California’s plan for administering statewide assessments in reading/language arts, mathematics, and science in 2020–21 does not require a federal waiver based on their stated understanding that California is administering all of its required assessments and that “all school districts will be required to administer the statewide summative assessments except in any instances where the State concludes it is not viable to administer the assessment because of the pandemic.”

Accordingly, where it is the most viable option, the local educational agencies (LEAs) will administer the statewide summative assessment and where a statewide summative assessment is not the most viable option for the LEA, or for one or more grade-level(s) within the LEA, the LEA may report results from a different assessment that meets the criteria established by the SBE on March 16, 2021.

As a reminder, the assessments must be
  • aligned with California Common Core State Standards for English language arts/literacy (ELA) and mathematics;
  • available to assess students in grades three through eight and grade eleven;
  • uniformly administered across a grade span, school, or district; and
  • provide results that can be reported to parents/guardians about their child, to educators about individual students, and to the public by school and by LEA that are disaggregated by student group.
If the California Science Test (CAST), California Spanish Assessment (CSA), and the California Alternate Assessments (CAAs) are not viable, no locally administered assessment is required.

LEAs are required to assess all English learners on the Summative English Language Proficiency Assessments for California (ELPAC).


The CDE has updated new frequently asked questions (FAQs) and answers for the 2021 Spring Summative Assessment Administration. More information is available on the COVID-19 Assessment FAQs web page at https://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/tg/ca/covid19assessmentfaq.asp. Also posted on the COVID-19 Assessment FAQs web page is the flyer “2020–21 Spring Summative Assessment Administration Flexibility Guidelines,” which lays out the testing options for each summative assessment this spring.

Survey Instructions

Please complete the survey by no later than 5 p.m. on Monday, May 17, 2021. Survey results will be publicly reported to the SBE in July 2021.
 
2. Please provide your LEA and contact information.  *This question is required.